By: Russ Burlingame on May 11, 2012
Feeding Ground, an Archaia book that transplants werewolves to the Mexican border, has been optioned by Edward R. Pressman, producer of Das Boot and The Crow, as a film to be directed by up-and-comer Alfonso Gomez-Rejon, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
“From the moment Swifty pitched me the idea, I knew that there was already inherent horror in moving the werewolf myth to the Mexican desert,” Lapinski told ComicBook.com back in October. “From there, our goal was to play to the terror of the location while delivering a personal family story and contemporary drama.”
The story, which was released in hardcover simultaneously in English and Spanish, deals with the consequences of a batch of werewolves terrorizing a shantytown near the Mexican border. But don’t expect it to be all-gore, all-the-time.
When we discussed the project with the creative team last year, co-writer Swifty Lang described the project as follows: “Feeding Ground is a story about a Mexican family trying to cross the border while they are besieged by werewolves. It’s a modern myth about identity, transformation, and survival.”
“Feeding Ground is an intense and terrifying thriller with a subtle but pointed commentary on immigration in modern America,” Pressman told The Hollywood Reporter. “The graphic novel is so cinematic in nature — as soon as I read it, I knew we could make a film that would resonate with a wide audience.”
Alfonso Gomez-Rejon himself originates from a Mexican border town and, prior to becoming a director, served as an assistant to filmmaker Nora Ephron and acttor Robert De Niro, as well as superstar directors Martin Scorsese and Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu.
Archaia has been a popular target for studios of late, with Rust having just recently been optioned as well as a couple of not-yet-released graphic novels. Archaia’s Stephen Christy and PJ Bickett will serve as executive producers, as well as Pressman Film COO Jon Katz and Jason Carpenter, identified by THR as “a former Pressman staffer who brought the property to the company.” Stephen Cavaliero will co-produce.
