Taika Waititi To Adapt ‘The Incal’
by Erik Amaya
No, really.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Thor: Ragnarok director Taika Waititi is signed up to direct and co-write a film based on Alejandro Jodorowsky and Moebius‘s The Incal. Along for the ride: Jemaine Clement and Peter Warren as co-writers.
The comic book series, originally serialized in Metal Hurlant during the 1980s (and subsequently published in English by Epic Comics) tells the story of happless private detective John DiFool. In a future overran with Techno-Technos, careless aristocracy, and societal decay, he comes into possession of an era-changing artifact, The Incal. Teaming up with a number of people — including The Incal’s protector and the infamous Metabaron — he must save the world from itself. Some of the ideas Jodorowsky put into the comic are based on some of the wilder concepts he had for his film adaptation of Dune. It ultimately spawned a whole comic book universe with spinoffs like The Metabarons and The Technopriests.
“The films and graphic novels of Alejandro Jodorowsky have influenced me and so many others for so long. I was stunned to be given the opportunity to bring his iconic characters to life and I am grateful to Alejandro, Fabrice [Giger, Humanoids CEO] and everyone at Humanoids for trusting me to do so,” Waititi said in a statement.
In a stunningly brief and lucid statement, Jodorowsky added, “it became obvious to me that he was the one. I fully trust Taika’s creativity to give The Incal a stunning take, intimate and at the same time of cosmic proportions.”
The deal struck between Humanoids and Waititi is still in its infancy, so no studio is part of the plan as yet. Instead, Waititi and his partners will hand a script by years end and, hopefully, get a Hollywood outfit onboard. We also imagine they will have an interest in the larger Incal world.
As Waititi has many irons in the fire — include a Star Wars project and a Flash Gordon adaptation — it remains to be seen when or even if his version of The Incal will come to fruition. We’re just surprised just a thing has been announced.
