Eight Billion Genies Movie in Works at Amazon

Eight Billion Genies is getting the movie treatment at Amazon, courtesy of Seth Rogen.

By Adam Barnhardt

Following news of Eight Billion Genies heading to Amazon, the franchise already has some big names attached. Monday, it was revealed Seth Rogen and his Point Grey Pictures are producing the project for Amazon MGM Studios. According to Hollywood insider Jeff Sneider, Rodney Rothman, the Oscar-winning co-director of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, has been hired to adapt the comic into a screenplay.

The series was first optioned by Amazon back in 2022. At the time, it was revealed the company not only intended to turn it into a movie, but create a franchise that spans television shows as well.

In the comic itself, created by Charles Soule and Ryan Browne, every person on the face of the planet one day gets one wish. Though there are some caveats to what wishes they may cast, the story soon takes a post-apocalyptic turn as battling factions aim to scoop up everybody else's wishes. Tonally, it's partially inspired by The Walking Dead, although it includes genre-bending fantasy and science fiction concepts.

"Every once in a while, we'd talk about my stupid idea, 'What if everyone had a genie?'" Soule once said to the Chicago-based Block Club.

"I'm going to figure it out. The thing that locked it into place was to follow these eight characters in a bar that's basically wish-proof. You can see the fate of humanity through them," Brown added. "While you're out having drinks, it's a great conversation starter. Your wish can be a nuclear option; it can also be the happiest, greatest option. It reflects who you are as a person. What a lot of people want is to put other people down." 

Eight Billion Genies initially ran for eight issues at Image Comics before Soule and Browne returned last fall for Wishworld, a special one-shot created and released exclusively at New York Comic Con.

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