Jamie Foxx to star in Todd McFarlanes Spawn movie

Jamie Foxx is set to play a CiA Black Ops soldier turned Hellspawn warrior in Spawn creator Todd McFarlane's live-action adaptation of his popular comic book character.

Deadline reports that Foxx will play Al Newman, the long-running comic series' original character, best known by his demonic alter-ego, Spawn. Foxx approached McFarlane years ago about the project, according to Deadline, and showed interest from the production's earliest stages.

'Jamie came to my office five years ago, and he had an idea about Spawn and we talked about it,' McFarlane told Deadline. 'I never forgot him, and when I was writing this script, you sort of plug people in, and he was my visual guy and I never let go of him. When I got done and my agents and everybody was talking about what actor, I said, I'm going to Jamie first and until he says no I don't want to think about anyone else because I've never had anyone else in my head. Luckily, he hadn't forgotten either. I said, 'hey, I'm back to talk about Spawn again, and he was like, let's do it.''

McFarlane is working on the movie with Blumhouse, a studio known for its incredibly popular and successful horror movies, and in the announcement references Jaws to John Carpenter's The Thing, and The Ring as influences for his 'bogeyman' take on the character. McFarlane, who created Spawn in May 1992, announced the project at San Diego Comic-Con in 2017. He told Deadline there are 'five or six moments from where I'm going to need things from my actors,' adding that Foxx was the only actor who could pull off the role.

'There are five or six moments where I'm going to need things from my actors, and a couple of them have to come from Jamie, and I've seen him deliver them onscreen,' McFarlane said. 'He gets into a zone, with body language and a look that basically will say way more than anything i could type on a piece of paper, and this movie is going to need those moments. And in the odd moment where he has to deliver a line that's short, curt and has impact, he can do it in a way that makes you go, 'whoa, I don't want to mess with that guy. What a badass.'

There is no release date for Spawn at this time.

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