Jonah Hex

Jonah Hex is an upcoming Western film based on the DC Comics character of the same name. Under Warner Bros., the film is directed by Jimmy Hayward and stars Josh Brolin as the title character, Jonah Hex. The film is scheduled to be released on June 18, 2010.

Premise

Variety reported the premise to be about a bounty hunter Jonah Hex (Brolin) in the late 19th century tracking down voodoo practitioner Quentin Turnbull (Malkovich), who plans to free the Confederate South with an army of the undead. In contrast, Jimmy Palmiotti, a comic book writer for Jonah Hex, denied that Turnbull would be a voodoo practitioner in the film.

Cast

Josh Brolin portrays Jonah Hex, a disfigured bounty hunter. Prior to Brolin's casting, actor Thomas Jane petitioned the studio for the role, hiring a makeup artist to give him the appearance of Jonah Hex. Brolin initially hated the script, but changed his mind, growing to like its tongue-in-cheek tone.John Malkovich is cast opposite Brolin as Quentin Turnbull, the film's antagonist. Megan Fox plays Leila, a gun-wielding prostitute and Jonah Hex's love interest. cast in the film is Will Arnett as a Union soldier who enlists Jonah Hex as a bounty hunter, and Michael Shannon as Doctor Cross Williams, the ringleader of a gladiator circus. The studio plans to have Williams a recurring character in sequels to the film.

Production

In 2000, 20th Century Fox developed a one-hour adaptation based on the fictional character to television with producers Akiva Goldsman and Robert Zappia involved, but the project did not make it to production. By July 2007, Warner Bros. Pictures held feature film rights to the character and sought to produce a film. Goldsman paired with Andrew Lazar as producers, and Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor adapted the screenplay, which adopted an incarnation of the comic books that combined the Western genre with supernatural elements. In October 2008, Josh Brolin entered talks to be cast as Jonah Hex under the direction of Neveldine and Taylor. In November 2008, Neveldine and Taylors stepped down from being directors due to creative differences with the studio. The studio explored the possibility of hiring Andy Fickman or McG and by January 2009, it chose Jimmy Hayward to direct Jonah Hex By the following February, Brolin was set to star alongside John Malkovich, who was cast as the antagonist Quentin Turnbull. Legendary Pictures paired with Warner Bros. Pictures to co-finance the film. Filming began in Louisiana in April 2009.