The Maxx: Channing Tatum to Adapt Sam Kieth Comic

November 22, 2019

Though a star in every other sense of the word, Channing Tatum (Logan Lucky) has had a tough go of things in the comic book adaptation world with trying to get a Gambit project off the ground for half a decade but he’s now set his sights on a new source material in Sam Kieth’s comic The Maxx, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Created by Kieth in 1993 and published by Image Comics, the comic series follows the adventures of the titular hero in both the real world and the alternate reality the Outback. In the real world, he is a vagrant, homeless man living in a box, but when he enters the Outback, he is the powerful protector of the Jungle Queen. Back in the real world, the Jungle Queen is Julie Winters, a freelance social worker who often supports the man and bails him out of jail without knowing the existence of the Outback and its potential dangers on the real world.

Two years after the comics’ debut and rising popularity, it was adapted in to a 13-episode cartoon series on MTV that furthered deepened its cult status and went on to win an Annie Award for Best Animated Series. Tatum is currently set to produce the adaptation through his Free Association banner alongside Reid Carolin and Peter Kiernan as well as Roy Lee (It: Chapter Two) from Vertigo Entertainment.

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Before creating the series, Kieth was known for being the first artist on Neil Gaiman’s acclaimed DC Comics/Vertigo series The Sandman, which is currently getting its own adaptation over at Netflix, and also worked on various Wolverine stories for Marvel Comics Presents prior to creating The Maxx.

Tatum worked for over five years to try and get a solo film surrounding Marvel’s superhero Gambit off the ground, nearly directing the film himself after losing multiple directors until the project was eventually cancelled in May 2019 following the merger of Disney and Fox.

(Photo Credit: Getty Images)