It is that time of year. Fans from all over the country and even the world, descend on Southern California like rain descending on the Pacific Northwest. It is a magical time, where comics are everywhere, geek topics are the dominant discussion and hot dogs magically triple in price: it is the San Diego Comic-Con.
But while 100K+ comic book fans get to know the joy of fitting 100K+ comic book fans in a relatively small area in the middle of summer, the rest of us are left with just the echoes of the convention in the form of lots and lots of announcements. One of those announcements to hit a bit early is that the comic book-turned-video game series, The Darkness, has been optioned.
The L.A. Times reports that Mandeville Films, the production company affiliated with Walt Disney that released the Oscar nominated The Fighter, has joined with The Darkness publisher, Top Cow, to make a movie based on the comics. This won’t be the first rodeo for a proposed The Darkness film. Dimension Films tried it seven years ago, and more recently producer Scott Stuber gave it a go, but the timing was off and both times the property ended up in Hollywood limbo. But now with the wave of superhero films crashing down and the game bringing attention to the property, Mandeville thinks the time is right.
Even assuming things move ahead at full steam, it will likely be a while before The Darkness is listed at your local Cineplex. In the meantime, The Darkness II will hit a video game console near you on February 7, 2012.