The Black Pearl – Mark Hamill directs!

Post-Star Wars Mark Hamill‘s status was always going to be geek icon, but he cemented that by not only voicing The Joker in the incredible Batman: The Animated Series but by producing a comic-book series that was both profound and easily engagible. Now that comic is set to be a movie, directed by Luke Skywalker himself!

The Black Pearl tells the story of Luther Drake, a deeply troubled but socially responsible man, who in an effort to clean up his neighbourhood becomes a masked vigilante. It’s all very familiar but Hamill and co-creator Eric Johnson managed to find some new ground and gain new perspective on the anti-hero way of life.

Interestingly Hamill initially wanted the series to be a movie, but when he could find no backers for his script he turned it into a comic-book. Now the journey comes full circle with Hamill announcing at the Cannes Film Festival that he has secured $7 million to make the leap from page to screen.

There’s no word on casting or a filming schedule yet but with The Fighter’s Paul Tamsay helping with the script this looks to be a goer.