The Goon has been on my personal radar for over 3 years now, ever since creator Eric Powell announced that director David Fincher (The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo) had scored the film rights in July of 2008.
Based on Powell's violently funny comic for Dark Horse, the film follows a mob strongman who finds himself battling vampires, "slackjaws," French octopi and other minions of the villainous Zombie Priest. Powell wrote the flick's script and Fincher is involved as producer, and possibly director.
Blur Studios, Dark Horse Entertainment Producing The Goon, Starring Clancy Brown
As of this writing, fans can view two reels of footage for the film online. The first - which can be viewed on Blur's website - is a 2 minute, 40 second reel featuring The Goon's sidekick Franky (voiced by Paul Giamatti) who is forced to babysit a tied-up "slackjaw" at a local gin joint. Franky's dubious attitude towards this assignment quickly changes when he discovers a "reward" in the zombie's back pocket.
The second is a hilarious PSA featuring The Goon himself (Clancy Brown) explaining what to do if you're ever attacked by "a member of the undead, also known as a slackjaw." Shovels, large wrenches and even a rusty mailbox are your best friends "when you proceed to bang the ******'s brains in!" A pre-PSA text crawl informs the viewer that "this is early rough test animation . . . THIS IS NOT INDICATIVE OF THE FINAL PRODUCT." (emphasis theirs).
However crude the animation is (and it actually would work well online or on TV), the best part is that it adheres closely to Powell's original art. Plotwise . . . well, the two-minute clip gets the job done, but it remains to be seen how it plays out over 90 minutes. Hopefully the feature film will maintain that anarchic spirit.
When Will The Goon Come to Theatres?
That's the million dollar question. The Blur website even admits that "this film is still looking for funding." Fincher has a lot of projects on the go: adapting Stieg Larsson's Millennium Trilogy, the TV series House of Cards, a new version of Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea with the subtitle Captain Nemo, and rebooting the 1981 cult classic Heavy Metal alongside Blur Studios and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles creator Kevin Eastman.
So at this point, it's hard to say whether The Goon will ever be made, let alone receive a theatrical release. Hopefully, it does because it looks great so far and North American audiences are beginning to wake up to what anime fans already know: animation ain't just for kids any more.
The Goon is coming to theatres . . . sometime before the heat death of the universe.
Dominic von Riedemann - Dominic is the Animated Film Feature Writer, and winner of 11 Suite 101 Editors' Choice Awards.
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