AMC Officially Orders Pilot for 'Preacher' from Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg

It's official: AMC is giving Preacher a shot.

After ordering a series to development based on Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon's cult classic comic book series, and hiring Seth Rogen and writing partner Evan Goldberg to develop it, the network is officially giving the series a pilot order.

From Sony TV and AMC Studios, the pilot for Preacher will be developed by Rogen and Goldberg, and directed by the latter, from a script by Breaking Bad vet Sam Catlin, who will also serve as showrunner.

The story centers on Jesse Custer, a "conflicted Preacher in a small Texas town who merges with a creature that has escaped from heaven and develops the ability to make anyone do anything he says. Along with his ex-girlfriend, Tulip, and an Irish vampire named Cassidy, the three embark on a journey to literally find God."

AMC is banking on this series being their next Walking Dead, and it has enough hype behind it to at least rake in a massive premiere number whenever it comes out. That is, provided the network likes what they see from the pilot Rogen, Goldberg and Catlin deliver. But it's almost inconceivable this won't get picked up to series, considering it's the only one out of seven projects to make it to pilot, coming out of AMC producers' meetings.

“Preacher has been our favorite comic since it first came out,” said Rogen and Goldberg in a statement. “Garth Ennis is one of our idols and it’s an incredible honor to be working on this. We promise we won’t make too many dick jokes and ruin it.”

“Every once in a while you find a project where all the elements line up beautifully. With Preacher, it starts with a bold, compelling, and thought-provoking comic book series from Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon and a whole lot of fans who already know Jesse Custer, Cassidy, and Tulip,” added Joel Stillerman, AMC’s executive vice president of original programming. “Add to that the passionate and talented Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, and Sam Catlin, an incredible producing team in Neal Moritz, the Original Film team and our good friends at Sony Pictures Television, and we have everything we need to be VERY excited to move forward on Preacher.”

You're not the only one, man. I've been hoping for a Preacher series nearly as long as they've been trying to get this thing off the ground. I'm glad fans like Rogen and Goldberg are going to be adapting it, since it means we likely won't have a bunch of material from the source getting compromised. This is also why I like that Ennis and Dillon are onboard as executive producers. They have an added stake in maintaining the integrity of their vision. Now, all they have to do is find the right cast and they'll be set. Seriously, I just can't envision a scenario where this isn't a hit, provided AMC gives it the proper promotional push. I can't wait to see how it turns out.

H/T: Deadline

Credit: Vertigo (DC Comics)