'Preacher' Development Confirmed, Seth Rogen And Evan Goldberg Scripting Pilot

If AMC wants a new show to replicate the success of The Walking Dead and Breaking Bad, it might have just the thing in Preacher. Months ago a report came up that AMC was the latest to develop Preacher, with Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg working as exec producers and pilot writers, based on the comic series by Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon. Now AMC has confirmed that development, and added that Breaking Bad's Sam Catlin will be the showrunner.

A few more details are below, along with gushing statements from the participants.

First, a Preacher primer in the form of AMC's official description of the show:

Preacher follows Reverend Jesse Custer, a tough Texas preacher who has lost his faith, has learned that God has left Heaven and abandoned His responsibilities. He finds himself the only person capable of tracking God down, demanding answers, and making Him answer for His dereliction of duty. Accompanying Jesse on his journey is his former girlfriend and a friendly vampire who seems to prefer a pint in the pub to the blood of the innocent. On his tail is one of the most iconic bad guys in print – an immortal, unstoppable killing machine named the Saint of Killers – a western lone gunman archetype whose sole purpose is to hunt and kill Jesse.

Sounds pretty much like Preacher, though there is the important omission of any mention of Genesis and/or the Word, that God-like power that passes to Jesse via a a strange celestial offspring. That's got to be in there, however, and this description reads like an audience-friendly summation more than anything else.

Rogen and Goldberg said in their statement,

This is amazing! We've tried for seven years to work on 'Preacher' and we're so psyched AMC is finally letting us. It is our favorite comic of all time, and we're going to do everything we can to do it right. Humperdoo!

Finally, here's what Preacher creator Garth Ennis had to say:

Steve Dillon and I are very happy to see Preacher being developed for TV, which seems a much more natural home for the story than a 2-hour movie. Between them, Sony TV and AMC have brought viewers two of my favorite shows with Breaking Bad and Mad Men, and it's exactly that kind of creative commitment and courage that Preacher needs. Obviously it's taken a while, but Ken Levin along with Neal Moritz and his team refused to give up, long after the point when I myself grew skeptical, and their unrelenting enthusiasm for the project has gotten us where we need to be. I'm particularly impressed that Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg and Sam Catlin understand Preacher fully — meaning they get it for what it is, not some vague approximation. All in all, it looks like Preacher can now be brought to TV in a way that I'd previously not have thought possible, and I very much appreciate that Steve and I have been included in the conversation in the way that we have.