Director Sam Mendes Acquires Rights To "Preacher" - Comic Classic

Famed Director and Oscar winner, Samuel Alexander "Sam" Mendes (born August 1, 1965) in partnership with Columbia Pictures, has reportedly acquired the rights to the Garth Ennis/ Steve Dillon comic classic "Preacher," as one of his next possible directing vehicles.

(Image of Sam Mendes from Focus Features Films - All Rights Reserved).

The original "Preacher" comic classic show ran from 1995-2000 in a series of 66 issues plus an additional nine specials.  The show, created by writers Ennis and Dillon ran from 1995-2000 through DC Comics.

The show was built around preacher Jesse Custer and his ongoing travels across the United States in search of a MIA God.  Along the way the resourceful Preacher encounters demons, angels and even some vampires including an alcoholic Irish vampire by the name of Cassidy.  He also hooks up with his ex-girlfriend with the appropriate name of Tulip.

Taking "Preacher" the the big screen would be a dream come true for many comics fans who are also eagerly awaiting the release of "Watchmen" set to be released in the Spring or Summer of 2008.

The "Preacher" project is just in the early talking stages and no additional details have been released including the name of the writers.  Nor has it been discovered just how many of the original episodes can be packed into a movie that is a few hours long or slightly less.

If anyone can deal with the challenges of creating a fabulous movie out of a string of episodes, Sam Mendes is most likely the man for the job.

Who Is Sam Mendes

Sam Mendes is an English stage, film and commerical director at RSA US.  He is best known for his 1998 production of Cabaret, starring Alan Cumming, and his debut film, American Beauty, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Director.

Sam Mendes was born in Reading, Berkshire, England to Jameson Peter Mendes, a university professor, and Valerie Helene Barnett, an author of children's books.  His father is from Trinidad's ethnic Portuguese community, and his mother an English Jew.  His grandfather is the Trinidad writer Alfred Mendes.

He attended Magdalen College School in Oxford and graduated from Peterhouse, the oldest college of the University of Cambridge, with a B.A. in 1987.

Mendes first attracted attention for his production of Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard in the West End which starred Judi Dench before he was twenty-five years old. Soon he joined the Royal Shakespeare Company where his productions, many of them featuring Simon Russell Beale, included Troilus and Cressida, Richard III and The Tempest.

He has also worked at the Royal National Theatre, directing Edward Bond's The Sea, Jim Cartwright's The Rise and Fall of Little Voice, Harold Pinter's The Birthday Party, and Othello with Simon Russell Beale as Iago.

Sam has been married to Academy Award winning actress Kate Winslet since 2003.

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