Movie-goers don’t need to look far to see signs of Stan Lee‘s influence on the big screen. Characters that Smilin’ Stan co-created with Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, and others continue to fill movie theaters, guys like Spider-Man and the Avengers. But anyone who knows anything about Lee also knows that he longed to move out of doing superheroes and into other forms of media, including film. To help him make the move, he sought out the help of collaborators, including Troma Entertainment founder Lloyd Kaufman.
One of those aborted projects is finally coming to life, more than 50 years since Lee worked on it. Bloody Disgusting is reporting that pre-production has begun on Night of the Witch, based on the screenplay that Lee and Kaufman wrote back in 1971. Joe Manco will direct, working from a script that he and Kaufman based on the earlier draft by Lee and Kaufman.
The story of a Mexican-American girl who gets caught in a witch trial, Night of the Witch is “a very powerful story,” Manco told Bloody Disgusting. “Once you see what Lloyd is trying to say in his scripts, you figure out the meaning behind it all; the message. That’s what I’m most concerned with. Night of the Witch is just as relevant today as it was in 1970 — maybe even more so —and our mission is to make it hit harder, to make it more brutal, and to remind people these same battles have been fought for decades.”
For Kaufman, the movie’s production is an opportunity to do what he does best, get people to make their own damn movie. “I know talent when I see it — my record proves it — and Joe is the right filmmaker to finally bring this story to life,” he said. It’s hard to disagree with his claim, given the success of his protogee James Gunn. But Kaufman sees another, more recent connection. “Just as I handed Toxie’s mop to Macon Blair at Comic-Con, I’m handing Night of the Witch to Joe Manco,” he continued, referencing the well-received Toxic Avenger remake. “He’s ready, more than ready, to carry that torch and finally make this film.”
