Warner Bros. is bringing DC Comics’ most famous superheroes to the big screen, but they aren’t the only properties from DC Entertainment that are getting live-action films. Under the subsidiary New Line Cinema, several books from the publishing company’s Vertigo arm are also getting the big movie treatment. Joseph Gordon-Levitt will star in and direct the upcoming Sandman, and now fellow hit series 100 Bullets is in development under another famous actor.
Tom Hardy has signed on as producer for the 100 Bullets film adaptation, and, according to THR, he also has an "eye to star." This announcement finally identities the secret DC project he alluded to several months ago. Although the plot of the movie wasn’t revealed, the article notes that the film will stay true to the comics. Hardy will co-produce with his partner Dean Baker via their production company, Hardy Son & Baker, and The Vatican Tapes scribe Chris Borrelli is writing the script. Overseers for the film include DC employees Geoff Johns and Adam Schlagman, as well as Richard Brener, Walter Hamada, and Dave Neustadter from New Line. A 100 Bullets TV series was in development at Showtime under David S. Goyer for several years, but nothing ever came of that project.
Running from 1999-2009, 100 Bullets was written by Brian Azzarello and illustrated by Eduardo Risso. The series followed a man named Agent Graves who found people who were the victims of various injustices. Somehow knowing what happened to them, Graves presented each person with a briefcase containing a gun and 100 rounds of untraceable ammunition, though it was up to the recipient if they wanted to exact revenge with Graves’ gift or leave the matter alone. As the series progressed, readers learned that these individuals weren’t just randomly picked by Graves, who was the leader of a secret organization called The Minutemen.
Although Graves is an older man, if Hardy does end up starring in the film, it wouldn’t be hard to make adjustments so that the role was more tailored for him. Like Sandman, 100 Bullets earned many accolades during its run, including several Eisner Awards. However, because the series lasted (appropriately) 100 issues, clearly the film’s story will have to be significantly condensed in order to work for film.
Of course, Tom Hardy is no stranger when it comes to movies based on DC properties. He played Bane in 2012’s The Dark Knight Rises, and he was originally going to play Rick Flagg in Suicide Squad before having to drop out. Seen earlier this year in the critically adored Mad Max: Fury Road, Hardy’s upcoming movies include playing twin criminals Ronald and Reginald Kray in Legend and John Fitzgerald in The Revenant.
No release date has been announced yet for 100 Bullets, but we’ll keep you apprised any new developments that arise with this project.
