Dark Horse Comics has had a string of creator-owned titles catch Hollywood’s eye. Jeff Lemire‘s Black Hammer Universe is being developed for television and film by Legendary Productions, and Halt and Catch Fire co-creator Christopher Cantwell‘s She Could Fly is in development for TV at AMC. Now another title joins their ranks, as Kill Whitey Donovan, the new series from creators Sydney Duncan and Natalie Barahona, has been optioned for feature film development by Hideout Studios. Deadline reports that writer/producer Sigrid Gilmer will pen the adaptation of the Civil War-era action/revenge story.
Kill Whitey Donovan, the first issue of which was released digitally and in comic shops today, follows the story of a woman out for revenge against the man who drove her sister to suicide, and the slave who agrees to help her. The series is produced by 12-Gauge Comics, with 12-Gauge art director Brian Stelfreeze providing editorial assistance for the five-issue series.
Per Deadline, Hideout Studios will develop and finance Kill Whitey Donovan as part of a recently-created film fund, which has previously done the same for Kevin Smith‘s Jay & Silent Bob Reboot project.
In a statement, Duncan and Barahona expressed their excitement at the prospect of seeing their creator-owned series in live action:
“It’s so exciting to imagine Hattie and Anna’s story being realized on screen. KILL WHITEY DONOVAN was always a cinematic story in my mind and became even more so when it came to life in Natalie Barahona’s art,” Duncan says. “Everyone at Hideout got what we were trying to do at the comic-book level and it became apparent that the book was in good hands when the producers met with Sigrid Gilmer and came back raving about her being The One. Look, she’s brilliant. She’s funny and just one of those writers who is so dialed into the currents of culture and community and humanity.”
“I’m thrilled at the possibility of seeing these characters realized on screen and I really look forward to how the actors would expand on each role,” Barahona elaborates. “It would be something we don’t often get to see—two women going through a physically harrowing journey with only each other to rely on.”
Check out a handful of preview pages for Kill Whitey Donovan #1 below, or track down a copy of the first issue in-stores before the speculators beat you to them. No word on a director or actors for the film adaptation of the series, but we’ll be sure to pass that along as the project develops.
