AMERICAN REAPER - The Movie

Clint Langley and I dreamed up American Reaper, a story about science fiction cops hunting identity thieves. The thieves were trafficking young people, deleting their consciousness, and implanting the consciousness of the elderly into their youthful bodies. We worked out the visual look of the main character and discussed story possibilities, then the third member of our company (Repeat Offenders Ltd) – Jeremy Davis – got producer Alex Francis interested in the project. Soon after, it was optioned by Trudy Styler’s production company, now called Maven Films. Alex and I batted various ideas back and forth and then Alex came up with what I still regard as an absolutely amazing, original and exciting plot!

Art by Clint Langley

As the story opens, and we drive through the strange science fiction world of New York in 2062, DETECTIVE MATHERSON, his car on auto-drive, remembers past tragic events. He recalls the awful circumstances surrounding his young son’s death. He’s gone over and over it in his mind, agonising over what he did, and desperately wondering if there could have been another way, another solution, something else he could have done. Yet he knows there was nothing. But that doesn’t stop him endlessly beating himself up about what he did.

He had discovered that his son’s body had been taken over by an ID thief. And he knew his son was already dead. So he had no choice but to execute the coffin-cheater. As the story develops with Matherson and his fellow Reapers hunting down more body snatchers, he faces the very real possibility that his daughter, too, may be stolen by ID thieves. Can lightning really strike twice? In this nightmare world of the near future, anything is possible.

Art by Clint Langley

I wrote the screenplay and it was shown to various well known directors, including Paul Greengrass, and one of the directors did a script polish on it, but eventually we drew a blank. Meanwhile, Clint and I adapted the screenplay as a comic book for 2000AD’s Megazine.

An exciting demo film has an action clip that shows the story’s cinematic potential  and also features some great scenes from the comic strip:

Then Alex teamed up with Irish director Ciaran Foy, and Ciaran loved the idea of Reaper, but had his own unique take on the character. Together, they came up with another exciting new plot featuring Matherson and his world. Then, in 2020, Amblin Entertainment came on board. This was  brilliant news for us, and with Amblin behind it, it looked like Netflix were going for it. But then Netflix decided  they would pass, because they had another science fiction story about the transference of consciousness.  

That story was Altered Carbon, based on a 2002 novel. It ran for two seasons and went down well with audiences. I remember seeing some episodes – which I really enjoyed  – and thought it was sufficiently different to Reaper to not be an issue. If I recall correctly, Reaper was much more personal and emotional.

So that’s where we stand at the moment. Ciaran recently directed Eli, The Haunting of Bly Manor and Sweet Tooth for Netflix and is as passionate about  American Reaper as ever. The journey from comic book to screen is often this extended. Thus, my character Accident Man, co-created with Tony Skinner, went through endless permutations before it was turned into two movies starring Scott Adkins, with a third one on the horizon. And its tone is now somewhat different to the comic book, with a greater emphasis on the martial arts, because that’s where Scott’s strongest following is. So I’m used to stories, screenplays, producers and directors changing when a comic book is adapted into a movie. It’s par for the course.

Art by Fay Dalton

And there are other possibilities and other platforms for Reaper now, in addition to Netflix, so who knows what the future will bring? Our world of Reaper is incredibly fleshed out with supporting info-features and any number of potential storylines. So it could just as easily make a tv series as a one-shot movie. You’ll see this when I describe the supporting extra Reaper Files stories which will appear in all three volumes. Any one of these Reaper File storylines would also make the basis for an excellent movie. 

Thus there’s the story of the little boy who knows his supposedly loving young mother is not his mum, but actually an elderly coffin-cheater lurking in her body. She doesn’t smell right to the boy: he senses she’s a wrong ‘un, but who is going to believe a little boy?  

Reaper Files: Tipping Point. Art by Fay Dalton

And there’s the young student who allows an old woman to briefly inhabit her body. She is assured it will only be for a short, ‘holiday’ period. In return, she can pay off her college fees. Taking over the student’s nubile young body, the crone hopes she can rekindle her husband’s past lust for her. The student is motivated by the same financial pressures that drives some young people to sign up to ‘Only Fans’ today. Entitled BUDDY HOLIDAY, it’s one of my personal favourites.

Ultimately, a Reaper movie or series adaptation will depend on the team and the platform who get behind the property. And I’m sure one day very soon they will!

CROWDFUNDING REAPER    

Meanwhile, we’re thinking of running a Kickstarter for REAPER. It would be three volumes, three hardback editions, and probably a cheaper softback edition as well.  

It’s a little too early to figure out the possible extras for pledgers, but I would guess a copy of my original screenplay would be one. And/or the comic strip script adaption.  

Plus prints of some classic pages from Reaper! 

Because it’s definitely time to celebrate the fabulous retro-future world of the Reapers and the grim choices DETECTIVE MATHERSON has to make involving his own family!

Sound good …? Let us know if that works for you. We look forward to your thoughts!