Todd McFarlane Expects Spawn Movie Script Soon (Exclusive)

Spawn is clawing its way out of development hell. Todd McFarlane announced the reboot was officially in the works at San Diego Comic-Con in 2017, two decades after the Mark A.Z. Dippé-directed live-action movie starring Michael Jai White as the demonic Hellspawn. The legendary comic book creator teamed with producer Jason Blum of Blumhouse Productions — newly merged with The Conjuring Universe creator James Wan's Atomic Monster banner to form a horror powerhouse — for the new Spawn movie, which has languished in limbo despite attaching A-list talent like Jamie Foxx and Jeremy Renner to star. 

"Jason Blum is one of the better ones at getting things done," McFarlane tells ComicBook about the prolific producer behind horror hits Halloween, Paranormal Activity, Insidious, M3GAN, and Five Nights at Freddy's. "They tell me I get to read the script this month. The email is going out this week to remind them that they promised me that."

McFarlane's Spawn script dates back to 2013. The project — which he envisioned as a smaller-budgeted, R-rated supernatural thriller — was once aiming for a 2014 production start date. Since being set up at Blumhouse, Spawn underwent a script polish by another writer-director; in 2021, Blumhouse hired Broken City writer Brian Tucker to script the new live-action version of McFarlane's long-running comic book that will publish its milestone 350th issue on February 21.

In 2022, Blumhouse's Spawn brought on a trio of writers to pen a new script: Scott Silver (DC's Joker), Malcolm Spellman (Marvel's The Falcon and the Winter Soldier), and Matt Mixon (Yesterday Was Everything). Also on board the reboot is veteran Walking Dead special effects makeup guru Greg Nicotero, who has designed a "gritty, down-and-dirty" version of the character that aligns with McFarlane's "serious and sophisticated"spin on Spawn.

"Something's gotta happen. Something's gonna happen," McFarlane said. "I just know myself, something's gonna happen 'cause if I can't figure it out inside [the Hollywood system], I'll figure it out [independently]. I just know myself. But hopefully we can figure out a deal that keeps all the parties that have been involved over the years involved."

The reboot remains undated, but Blum told ComicBook in September that the Spawn release date is TBA 2025. "I stand by that," Blum said. McFarlane's Spawn #350, which will reveal to readers who will finally sit on the vacant Throne Of Hell, is on sale February 21 from Image Comics.