Spawn Won't Say A Word In His Entire Movie

The Spawn reboot will be different from its predecessor in many ways, but on one of the biggest involves its lead hero.

The original movie put the character of Spawn in the spotlight, a part portrayed by Michael Jai White. Fans followed him through the story, but Todd McFarlane reveals that the new movie will take a very different approach.

"I like to explain that it's my Jaws," McFarlane told azcentral. "Spawn doesn't say a word the entire movie, and it's the same way with "Jaws." It's about the sheriff and the people, chasing the ghost. That's it...The lead role isn't Spawn, the lead role is a cop, like Sheriff Brody from "Jaws." I think we can hook a fairly significant actor that we want. Unlike a superhero movie, we wouldn't need an actor to put on prosthetic (makeup) or go to the gym. We just need him to act."

The new movie is still in pre-production, but McFarlane said things are moving along nicely. He also explained that Spawn is not a superhero film in the typical sense.

"We just signed off on the script, and are going into budgeting," McFarlane said. "We're also having our casting meeting...It will be dark and heavy, serious, R-rated. It won't be a superhero movie. I don't think most people would categorize it as that. It will be a supernatural thriller, like a lot of good creep movies. The only thing in the movie that's fantastic is Spawn, and anything else is otherwise normal."

McFarlane aims to keep Spawn in the $10 million range, a much smaller amount than the $40 million of the original movie, which released in 1997. That film went on to make $87 million worldwide, but McFarlane thinks keeping the budget smaller can lead to big results.

"It was the reason why I wanted to keep it small and tight," McFarlane said. He then pointed out the massive success of his new partner Jason Blum's work on Get Out. "You put out $3 million, if they had netted 25, it would've been a success, instead of the 300 million they got. 25 on a $3 million bet, that's not bad."

Spawn hits theaters in 2019.