It was announced yesterday in exclusive by Deadline.com. Writer and author John Ridley is teaming up with Blumhouse Productions in order to adapt the comic book series The American Way: Those Above And Those Below.
John Ridley created and wrote the eight-issue graphic novels that were published between April and September 2006 via DC Comics. Georges Jeanty is credited as co-creator and penciler in the book series. The American Way is placed in the 1940s, where the United States government hatched a plan to create the Civil Defense Corps: a group of “super-heroes” who could fight alien invasions, evil super-powered beings, and communism, all in front of the adoring public glued to their televisions. Twenty years later, when an African-American hero named the New American is inserted into 1962’s premier superteam, the turmoil begins.
After many years bringing tens of interesting movies, always under the terrains of horror and fantasy, this marks the first superheroes film to be brought by Blumhouse Productions. Since its founding in 2000, the popular film and television company owned by Jason Blum has been behind successful titles like The Lords of Salem (2012), Oculus (2013), The Gallows (2015), Split (2016), Get Out (2017), Happy Death Day (2017) or the recently released Truth or Dare (2018). They are also responsible for popular sagas like Paranormal Activity, Insidious, Sinister or The Purge. So a social and political superheroes flick is the right cherry for their catalog.
The American Way will be written and directed by its original comic book author, John Ridley. This is not the first time he is involved in filmmaking since he’s already been involved in several movie and TV projects as a writer, director or producer, including being the author of the Oscar-winning script for 12 Years a Slave (2013). That added more excitement to the project, that probably won’t see the light until next year.
