Frank Miller is developing a series of adaptations of Hugo Pratt’s CORTO MALTESE graphic novel series

StudioCanal is collaborating with the legendary comic book writer and artist Franco Miller (Sin City, 300, The Dark Knight Returns, Daredevil: Born Again) to develop a serial adaptation by Hugo Pratt Corto Maltesi graphic novel series. Miller will create and executive produce the project which will consist of six one-hour episodes.

Pratt launched the series in 1967 and follows Maltese, “a daring sea captain whose adventures took place in the early part of the 20th century. The richly drawn adventure tale blended fantasy with reality as Maltese came into contact with some of literature’s most influential characters – Jack London, Ernest Hemingway, Butch Cassidy – as he traversed seas and oceans.

Visual effects for the series will be supervised by Phil Tippett, whose previous work includes the Star Wars And Jurassic Park franchise, Willowand more! Jemma Rodgers (The return of the railroad children) And Silent Thomas they are also executive producers.

Miller said in a statement, “I first discovered Corto Maltese while reading the books at New York’s Forbidden Planet as a young man. Then during my travels, I studied and discovered an edition on a newsstand in Rome. The artwork was so expressive and so bold that it leapt right out of the newsprint. It blew me away. It was full of magic and romantic adventure. Maltese is a scoundrel who could talk to the gods. For me he showed the power of comics where language is not a big barrier. I have been a fan of Corto Maltese ever since. This is the hero’s journey in its most classic form, and I couldn’t be more honored to help bring to this series the romance, heroism, and underlying mysticism of Pratt’s creation.”

Patricia Zanotti, a close collaborator of Pratt, said: “Hugo Pratt appreciated Frank Miller’s work from the beginning so much that he published it in Corto Maltese magazine in 1988. Pratt like Miller are students of classic American comics like Milton Caniff with their use of shadows, dramatic inks, and bold brushstrokes. Who better than Frank Miller to reinterpret the world of Hugo Pratt after all the characters and worlds that the legendary creator has brought us? Pratt would be thrilled to see his Corto Maltese character revived through an author who has the uncanny ability to carry on timeless myths by introducing iconic characters to new generations. Pratt said through one of his characters that “nothing is written that can’t be rewritten.” I believe that no one other than Frank Miller could interpret the creative impulse inherent in this sentence.

It will be interesting to see how this project is born!

.@F_Baranger dévoile ses concept-arts pour l’adaptation ciné de Corto en Sibérie de Christophe Gans. Le projet a été annulé “pour d’obscures raisons juridiques” https://t.co/T2GBkkTAqh pic.twitter.com/PrChgUJtKT

— Jerome Lachasse (@J_Lachasse) June 22, 2019

Source: Deadline