Johnny Depp, Edgar Wright and D.V. DeVincentis to adapt KOLCHAK THE NIGHT STALKER

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Edgar Wright is apparently a really busy guy. I mean, I love the guy. Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz are wonderful, endlessly watchable films, and I was blown away by his Scott Pilgrim adaptation, particularly because that seemed like it’d be impossible to adapt. I only say “apparently,” because for all the movement and announcement of projects, it’s always several years before we see his projects realised.

My excitement piqued earlier this year when it was revealed that Wright would begin working on the long-teased The World’s End, reteaming him with Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz co-writer/star Simon Pegg.

Adding to his already busy schedule, The Hollywood Reporter has announced that Wright will be directing an adaptation of Kolchak The Night Stalker, written by D.V. DeVincentis, of the fantastic Gross Pointe Blank and High Fidelity. Johnny Depp is set to star as the lead character, and, in a bold move for him, will likely wear an Interesting Hat throughout.

Edgar Wright, however, appears to be taking to the Ridley Scott school of film-making, and attaching his name to every film that is announced as being in production, gleefully running down the aisle at the movietorium and swiping everything off the shelf, laughing maniacally. Meanwhile, Terrence Malick wipes away a single tear, as his organic film farm comes up barren after another long year.

“But Pa,” his producer Nicolas Gonda asks, “how will we make it through another winter?”

And Terrence looks out across the field of slowing moving script pages, the wind making them dance, and the light catching them juuust right, and says, “I don’t know, son. I don’t know…”

To wit, Wright is meant to be begin filming The World’s End this year, and it’s rumoured that Ant Man, his long-delayed Marvel Comics film, is to begin filming this year, too, somehow. The world is always a better place with more Edgar Wright in it, but I do worry that we’re gonna be in another Ant Man situation here (that project was announced all the way back in 2006!), where we’ll be constantly fantasising and teased with the film that never seems to come to fruition.

Although I have no real connection with Kolchak, I know it’s got a rabid fanbase, and with its meshing of genres, it seems like Wright will be right at home.

Once he gets around to making it in 2019.