Taika Waititi to adapt Alejandro Jodorowsky's ‘The Incal’
Academy Award-winning director Taika Waititi is reportedly on board to adapt renowned filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky's best-selling sci-fi graphic novel, The Incal.
According to Deadline, Waititi (What We Do in the Shadows, Thor: Ragnarok, Jojo Rabbit), has signed up to direct the upcoming project, where he will also serve as co-writer of the script alongside his regular collaborators Jemaine Clement (Flight of the Conchords) and Peter Warren (Ghost Team, The History of Us).
“The films and graphic novels of Alejandro Jodorowsky have influenced me and so many others for so long,” Waititi said. “I was stunned to be given the opportunity to bring his iconic characters to life and I am grateful to Alejandro, Fabrice and everyone at HUMANOIDS for trusting me to do so.
The Incal is described as an epic space opera that follows the story of John Difool, a shabby private investigator who discovers a mystical artifact known as the Incal. Upon learning of the Incal's powers and purpose, Difool then decides to embark on a mission with a ragtag crew of cohorts to save the universe and examine the meaning of existence.
“When Humanoids’ CEO Fabrice Giger introduced me to Taika Waititi’s work, it became obvious to me that he was the one,” said Jodorowsky. “I fully trust Taika’s creativity to give THE INCAL a stunning take, intimate and at the same time of cosmic proportions.”
Originally published between 1980 and 1988, Jodorowsky's The Incal kicked off what is known today as the Jodoverse. The acclaimed graphic novel spawned three sequels: Before the Incal (1988), After the Incal (2000), and the Final Incal (2014), and also received three spin-off series: Metabarons, The Technopriests, and Megalex.
“It began as the adventures of a jackass named John Difool, and then it became something else—we called it THE INCAL—something that has transformed everything it’s ever touched and continues to do so: its creators, the other artists who later became a part of John’s journey, its publisher HUMANOIDS and myself in the process, countless readers, writers and directors around the world, and soon, I believe, the great Taika Waititi himself and everyone who looks to him for inspiration.”
Apart from The Incal, the Oscar-winning director has a number of future projects in line, which includes Thor: Love and Thunder, Akira, Flash Gordon, an untitled Star Wars film, and two animated series based on Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.