In a competitive bidding war, Sony has picked up the movie rights to Descender, an upcoming sci-fi comic written by Jeff Lemire and drawn by Dustin Nguyen.
Josh Bratman will produce the film with Lemire and Nguyen attached to executive produce.
The space opera tells of a time where anything android, robotic or with artificial intelligence is hunted down by bounty hunters and destroyed. On a distant mining colony, one self-aware and extremely lifelike robot called TIM-21 becomes the target of a galaxy-wide pursuit when it’s believed he may hold the key to the destruction of the galaxy. TIM-21 bands with a rag-tag group of unlikely companions and go on the run from one exotic planet to the next with new foes advancing at every turn.
The first issue of the comic, being published by Image, is due to hit comic stores shelves March 4.
Lemire, an acclaimed writer with eight Eisner nominations under his belt, is known for his work for DC (his Green Arrow run sadly finished last year) and his creator-owned work for Vertigo which included the post-apocalyptic Sweet Tooth and the sci-fi time travel love story Trilium. He is also about to start writing Hawkeye for Marvel.
Nguyen drew the Scott Snyder-penned comic American Vampire: Lord of Nightmares and is best known for his many Batman books. He is also a toy and animation designer.
The duo are repped by Angela Cheng Caplan of Cheng Caplan Company and law firm Stone, Meyer, Genow.
Michael De Luca and Rachel O’Connor are oversee the project for the studio.
