Warren Ellis’ Ocean Optioned for Movie

As little as I currently read comic books right now, even I know that Warren Ellis is one hell of a comic book writer. His work on Planetary is just incredible — at once complex, instantly familiar, and wholly original. I don’t know how the guy does it. He takes a bunch of disparate plots, seemingly from old movies, monster movies, and fairy tales, and turns them into engaging comic book stories. That’s Planetary in a nutshell. If you haven’t read it, I recommend getting the trade paperbacks. Now here’s news that Ellis’ 6-issue limited series “Ocean” has been optioned for a movie.

The guys shelling out the bucks for the option are Hollywood Gang’s Gianni Nunnari and Nick Wechsler. Both men have histories with comic book movies, with Nunnari producing the uber hit “300″, before teaming up with Weschler to bring Frank Miller’s “Ronin” to the big screen.

Story concerns the thousands of coffins containing angel-like bodies, and a giant weapon of mass destruction, discovered by a scientist on Jupiter’s ice-covered moon Europa. A U.N. weapons inspector sent to investigate uncovers a chilling secret about the history of humanity.

Wechsler called the graphic novel “an alien thriller with a fresh take on the origin of man.”

Sounds like a winner. That is, if they don’t start thinking about “tweaking” Ellis’ writing.

P.S. And if you haven’t picked up Ellis’ “Black Summer”, you should start.