'Children Of Men' Producer Snaps Up Anti-Hero Script 'Psychopomp'

Hilary Shor, one of the producers behind Children of Men, has just picked up a rather odd-sounding script from Blake Leibel. Psychopomp is both the name of the script and the main character, and the story is being tagged with slightly grandiose influences like A Clockwork Orange and The Dark Knight. What's the thing all about? Find out...THR says the character is "a foul-mouthed anti-hero who roams international hot spots with state-of-the art weapons and technology with the aim of destroying those who violate his code."

OK, so sort of like a James Bond type, sort of a vigilante, sort of a jerk. All depends on what his code is, and how it might be violated.

Shor says of the script,

This is the evil twin of the 'Children of Men" future world Alfonso created...A lot of material I'm best known for developing is 'weighty,' for lack of a better word, but this really appealed to me. It's the graphic novel world and something I've been interested in exploring.

In other words, given that the plan is to make this into a graphic novel and then merchandise the 'property' along media lines from film to other options, "we can maybe make a bunch of dough with this." Which is fine, film being a commercial enterprise.

But is it any good? No idea. That logline sounds like something better suited to a video game or Adult Swim animated show.

Great title, though, and the term 'psychopomp' is loaded with possibilities. Are any of them really explored in the script? Compare and contrast the following with the logline above and make your guesses for now.

Psychopomps are creatures, spirits, angels, or deities in many religions whose responsibility is to escort newly deceased souls to the afterlife. Their role is not to judge the deceased, but simply provide safe passage. Frequently depicted on funerary art, psychopomps have been associated at different times and in different cultures with horses, Whip-poor-wills, ravens, dogs, crows, owls, sparrows, cuckoos, harts and Yamatoots...In Jungian psychology, the psychopomp is a mediator between the unconscious and conscious realms. It is symbolically personified in dreams as a wise man or woman, or sometimes as a helpful animal.