Acclaimed comic writer Garth Ennis has spent years seeing some of his most famous works turned into acclaimed television series, but the next adaptation will be by his own hand. The Hollywood Reporter, via its Heat Vision newsletter, writes that he recently penned the screenplay for a feature film spin on his post-apocalyptic comic Crossed, which depicts a grim world ruined by a pandemic that inflicts victims with giant cross rashes and forces them to act out their most vile thoughts. The indie banner Six Studios has acquired the script with plans to finance and produce the movie. It’s currently searching for a director to helm the project.

Ennis’s Crossed adaptation will pull from the original ten issues of the comic, which ran from 2008 through 2010 under Avatar Press. Like most of his work, it’s another brutal and subversive take on a popular genre, twisting the typical zombie apocalypse tale into something horrific reflecting the worst of humanity. Rather than shamble around and mindlessly feast on any remaining humans, these infected keep their intelligence and become homicidal maniacs committing the worst crimes imaginable. The disease quickly brings society to its knees as governments race to shut down anything that could be used for mass destruction, but it only delays the inevitable as the vestiges of humanity become fewer and fewer. Jacen Burrows illustrated the first ten issues of the comic.

Six Studios plans for production to begin in the fall with Carl Choi producing for the banner alongside Ben Hung of Retro Entertainment and Ken Levin of Nightsky Productions, who also helped develop the project with Ennis. Choi has high hopes for the script, calling it an intimate and deeply human story that evokes The Walking Dead and Contagion, and even more recent titles like Alex Garland‘s Civil War for its grim tour across America. “It was the most faithful adaptation possible,” he said, setting up a project that hems close to Ennis’s original vision.

Garth Ennis Has Made Plenty of Fans on Television

Crossed will be an intriguing test of whether Ennis’s work can succeed on the big screen. On television, his comics have become critical and audience darlings, starting with Preacher on AMC. The acclaimed series starring Dominic Cooper ran for four seasons on the network from 2016 through 2019 with great success, delivering some demented villains across its run. However, it was subsequently dwarfed by the runaway hit that is The Boys at Prime Video, which just broke more viewership records on the platform with its fourth season. Helmed by Eric Kripke, the superhero satire is still secured for one more season to wrap up its story as well as multiple spinoffs, including the sophomore outing of Gen V, The Boys Presents: Diabolical, and two new shows in The Boys: Mexico and a Soldier Boy (Jensen Ackles) prequel.

If Crossed can find half the success of that series, it’ll be a big win for Ennis and Six Studios. For now, stay tuned here at Collider for more on the comic adaptation as it searches for a director.