Russell Crowe and Simon Pegg sought for Adam McKay's THE BOYS

Adam McKay (Anchorman, Step Brothers) is hard at work on an adaptation of Garth Ennis’ violent comic-book The Boys, which "follows a government team who keep tabs on the actions of superheroes." MTV spoke to McKay on the red carpet at the Comedy Awards this weekend and he gave an update on the project’s status and shared his thoughts on the casting.

Here is what he had to say:

“I’m writing completely on my own… so it’s taking twice as long as it should.” But it shouldn’t be too much longer—he says, “I am actually in the home stretch. I have about two weeks left on this draft and we’re going to try and get it made. It’s looking pretty cool. I’m excited about it.” With the script nearing completion, McKay confirms that he’s starting to think about casting, and re-iterates that Simon Pegg, on whom Ennis based the character of Wee Hughie Green, a civilian drafted into the group after his girlfriend is killed by a superhero, is his first choice, saying that, “Everyone knows Simon Pegg can take Hughie if he wants. I don’t know what his schedule is like, though.”

The Playlist spoke to Pegg at SXSW and he suggested that he was no longer the best fit for the role, saying that “I don’t know if I’m too old for Wee Hughie, you know, I’m a 41 year old man, Wee Hughie is like a young guy. I think Darick and Garth [Ennis] imagined Wee Hughie as [my character] Tim from “Spaced,” not Simon Pegg, 41 years old. But we’ll see.” Since there is nothing intrinsically young about the character, if Pegg really want to take it on, there’s reason that he couldn't.

McKay has already met with an A-lister about playing the leader of The Boys, the brutal ex-Royal Marine Billy Butcher. The director stated, “I really like the idea of Russell Crowe for the Butcher. We met and had kind of an interesting meeting.” Even though Crowe has never been interested in playing a superhero in the past, he must be interested if McKay named him. It is likely that Crowe is waiting for the full draft before formal talks begin. I think it would a great match up with Crowe and Pegg together.

Neal Moritz is producing the film and does not yet have a studio home. McKay admits that the film may not be the easiest to get made. “You really have to wait until the draft is done to get serious about it, plus it’s like a $100 million, rated-R, anti-superhero movie, so we have to see who bites on it.” Crowe’s attachment would  be a definite asset to getting the studios involved.

What are your thouhts thoughts on this news?

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