After years in development, Mark Millar’s Chrononauts has finally found a screenwriter in the form of Philip Gawthorne. Millar has become something of a master when it comes to getting his young comic book series made into films. Following years of working with Marvel, Millar set off on his own to create with various indie publishers. His work, often brutal and bloody, has more often than not been turned into films shortly after being created and hitting it big with fans. To date, his books Kick-Ass, Wanted, and Kingsman: The Secret Service have all become movies. The latter is even getting a highly-anticipated sequel later this year.
In 2015, he and Sean Gordon Murphy created Chrononauts, a time-traveling bromance featuring two rakish explorers setting off on a temporal adventure. Before the first volume was even complete, news broke of a movie in the works from Universal Pictures. A few months later, and Millar claimed a star was already locked down. Now, after two years without any movement, a writer and producer have been added to the project to help see it become a reality.
Deadline are reporting that Gawthorne, a playwright and screenwriter, will be handling the script for Chrononauts, while Millar collaborator and Fast and Furious writer Chris Morgan will produce. Gawthorne is best known for his play Modern Life is Rubbish, which will become a film this year. He’s also working on adaptations of Kojak and Cube.
Fans of Millar will likely be excited. For the past few years, he’s had a number of projects in development that have yet to move forward in any significant way. Part of that could be due to the failure of Wanter and Kick-Ass 2, but the success of Kingsman may have turned things around. Studios are likely anxious to continue working on the writer’s properties, while Morgan’s success and Gawthorne’s rising star have likely helped things along as well.
Recent sci-fi comedies like Guardians of the Galaxy have probably also helped the project. Based on relatively obscure characters, the movie’s mix of action and swagger proved powerful at the box office, and the sequel looks to be headed towards similar success. As such, Millar’s Chrononauts will be far easier to pitch than it would have been a few years ago. With Kingsman: The Golden Circle looking to match its predecessor’s hit status, Millar could be in for a solid few years.
Chrononauts has no release date yet. We’ll keep you updated on the latest information.
Source: Deadline
