Jamie Foxx Officially Cast in Todd McFarlane's New SPAWN Movie

Jamie Foxx has been wanting to play Spawn for Todd McFarlane for years. McFarlane has talked about how there was an Academy Award-winning actor pushing him to get the film into production so that he could play the character. A few weeks ago we learned that Foxx was offered the role and now today, Deadline confirmed that the actor has accepted and is officially the first actor to join the cast! 

McFarlane, who created the original comic, is on board to write and direct the film for Blumhouse Pictures. I wasn't sure if Foxx would actually take the role because we've learned the Spawn character will be lurking in the shadows through most of the film. The movie will not focus on Spawn, it will focus on the character Twitch, who has yet to be cast. McFarlane previously explained:

"There's two big roles in the script. There's obviously sort of Spawn himself, although in a weird way it's not the biggest role, and then there's the cop. The cop is this character Twitch who's been there since issue #1. Twitch is the role in this one, and I sort of refer to him as my sheriff Brody, who is the sheriff in the Jaws movie. Although it was called Jaws, Jaws didn't really talk a lot in his movie, right? He just kind of showed up at the opportune time to make the movie worthwhile."

He goes on to elaborate on how his Spawn movie compares to Jaws, saying:

"It was sheriff Brody, the humans talking, chasing the fantastical thing that sort of made the movie, and to me, there's that element. Everything else is normal in this story other than (gesture) the shadow moves, and at times even when it moves, the cop just sort of thinks he's losing his mind so he doesn't even trust that the shadow's moving. If you're a bad guy, then this thing is going to come and it's going to get you."

He also said that Spawn himself won't talk in the movie. He'll just be this thing lurking in the shadows. Now that Foxx is on board, I wonder if McFarlane plans to change some things up on how the character will be presented in the film.

When talking about casting Foxx in the film, McFarlane Says:

“There are five or six moments where I’m going to need things from my actors, and a couple of them have to come from Jamie, and I’ve seen him deliver them onscreen. He gets into a zone, with body language and a look that basically will say way more than anything i could type on a piece of paper, and this movie is going to need those moments. And in the odd moment where he has to deliver a line that’s short, curt and has impact, he can do it in a way that makes you go, ‘Whoa, I don’t want to mess with that guy. What a badass.'”

McFarlane goes on to say that Foxx was the actor in his mind when he wrote the script.

“Jamie came to my office five years ago, and he had an idea about Spawn and we talked about it. I never forgot him, and when I was writing this script, you sort of plug people in, and he was my visual guy and I never let go of him. When I got done and my agents and everybody was talking about what actor, I said, I’m going to Jamie first and until he says no I don’t want to think about anyone else because I’ve never had anyone else in my head. Luckily, he hadn’t forgotten either. I said, ‘Hey, I’m back to talk about Spawn again, and he was like, let’s do it.'”

Blumhouse chief Jason Blum added:

“We are thrilled Jamie Foxx will be playing the title role in our movie adaptation of Spawn. He is an incredible actor and a huge fan of the Spawn Universe that Todd McFarlane created. With the depth of talent Jamie can commit to the role and Todd at the helm bringing the world of Spawn to life, we could not be more excited for this film.”

Then Foxx himself said:

“A few years back I flew out to Arizona to meet the man behind one of the most incredible comic book characters in the universe… Todd McFarlane. He was taken aback when I told him with the enthusiasm of a young child that more than anything I wanted to put my name in the hat to embody his beloved character Spawn…. I told him no one would work harder than me if given the opportunity… well… the opportunity is here!! I’m humbled and ready to transform… and to top things off the young Jason Blum is lending his brilliance to the project! Time to be great!!!! #Spawn.”

Spawn only has a budget of $10 million dollars. It's set to start shooting in August and will be released sometime in 2019.

Are you happy to hear that Foxx is officially on board to play Spawn!?