EXCLUSIVE: DreamWorks Animation Nabs Movie Rights to 'Maintenance' Comic

Sneaking in one last deal before Hollywood shuts down for the holidays, DreamWorks Animation has picked up the movie rights to Maintenance, an Oni Press comic book, nabbing it out of turnaround from Warner Bros.

The comic, published by Oni in December, 2006, followed the exploits of two janitors who work for TerroMax, Inc., the world's biggest and best evil science think tank. When they're not dealing with toxic spill monsters and menial time machine repairs, they have to contend with their boss, a multitude of mad scientists, jetpack-equipped cavemen, alien repomen, and the cute girl who works at reception

The comic was written by Jim Massey and illustrated by Robbi Rodriguez.

Whilst at Warners, Maintenance was being developed as a directing vehicle for McG, who was also producing via his Wonderland Sound and Vision banner. Joe Ballarini worked on the script.

While it’s unclear why exactly Warners let it go, the humorous and pop cultural-referencing tone combined with a large scope described in Maintenance may be best suited for the animated world. And it seems like a project perfectly matched for DWA, which has had great success with similarly themed movies such as 2009’s Monsters vs. Aliens and the recent Superman-infused Megamind.

Maintenance is coming into DWA free and clear, with no writer, director or producers attached.