Rawson Thurber To Rewrite ‘The Umbrella Academy’ For Universal
Dodgeball director Rawson Thurber is rewriting The Umbrella Academy for Universal Pictures, based on the 2008 Eisner Award-winning Dark Horse comic written by My Chemical Romance singer Gerard Way. Mark Bomback wrote the first draft.
The comic revolves around an adopted dysfunctional family of superheroes with bizarre powers who are brought together by a mentor. As children, they defeat the Eiffel Tower when it’s turned into a laser-spewing structure by a zombie robot. In later installments of the comic, the kids disband but reunite as adults after their mentor is killed.
It’s the second Dark Horse property at Universal, which will begin production on RIPD in September. Dark Horse’s Mike Richardson will produce with Scott Stuber and his Stuber Films banner. Pam Abdy will oversee the project for Stuber and also produce. The author and Dark Horse’s Keith Goldberg are executive producers. Thurber’s repped by CAA.
This is good news. I read the first graphic novel and it was immensely enjoyable. “Umbrella Academy” has unique characters, interesting dialogue, and a quirky but enjoyable tone. I’ll be interested to see if the movie can capture the comic’s originality rather than settle for a corny disneyfied version. The comic features a bunch of kids in the beginning who later grow up, but it’s definitely not a story for the very young.
I too am pleased to see an adaptation of what is a wildly interesting and subversive work but I am troubled by the words, “Dodgeball director Rawson Thurber.” That says to me, “We, the studio, do not understand or appreciate the tone of the subject matter and will dumb it down to reach the widest possible audience.”
I liked Dodgeball for what it was and Tower Heist might be the same type of mindless fun. But mindless fun has sweet FA to do with Umbrella Academy.
Wasn’t there some movie this dude got bounced off of?
This sounds so f_cking stupid, “they defeat the Eiffel Tower when it’s turned into a laser-spewing structure by a zombie robot.”
And if you immensely enjoy this, you’re an idiot.
Someone needs to systematically shut down all comic publishing companies asap or at least keep them from being adapted into films. Wow, just wow.
Looks like somebody doesn’t like fun.
Umbrella Academy is one of the freshest comics out there, but that Eiffel Tower/Zombie Robot description isn’t exactly right and does make it sound silly. Who writes these press releases? Anyhow, I’d love to see this get made!
Read the screenplay.
It was nonsense. Too many jumps here.
The summary is not very accurate. The Eiffel Tower bit is really only the intro and the main plot revolves more around the adopted siblings coming to terms with each other as adults after their adoptive father dies. I picked up the comic on the strenght of Gabriel Ba’s artwork and was pleasantly surprised by the quirky story.
“If you immensely enjoy this, you’re an idiot.”
Oh, and that doesn’t make you one?
If you don’t like comic book based movies, that’s fine with me. But a good portion of the public does, so let us have our fun, please. Thank you. (Also, you might want to try actually reading the comic before judging it. Thanks)
Forget to drink your prune juice this morning? The source material is compelling, given the fact that you judge one minor scene within the first 5 minutes of reading. Eisner nominated to boot, guy.
Hm, I suppose ‘skeptical’ is the word best fitted to match my feelings about this situation. I don’t think I’d consider Thurber fitting for this role.
Nevertheless, news at all on the adaption is nice to see. The trail went ridiculously quiet for a long time…
And you loved ‘The Dark Knight’ didn’t you?
It does sound ridiculous when summed up like that. But you can’t judge it based on that one sentence. You have no right to call us idiots. Go read it and if you still think it’s “fucking stupid” then that’s just fine.
That being said, I’m very excited to hear that it’s happening. I adore the comic (Especially because I think Gabriel Ba’s work is absolutely stunning.) and because the story is very different. I can’t wait to see it in movie form.
Mark my words… Gabriel Ba’s ‘DAYTRIPPER’ will soon become a hot comic-to-film commodity.
Met Way at Comic-Con last weekend. Didn’t realize it was him until after I had already struck up a conversation. He was a very nice fellow and his band is actually really good for the genre. I hope this works out well.