The Painkiller Jane movie is now targeting two-time Academy Award nominee Jessica Chastain to headline
Plans for a Painkiller Jane movie have been in the works almost as long Jimmy Palmiotti‘s comic book character herself has existed. Deadline reports some intriguing news out of the American Film Market today, however, that suggests we may finally see Painkiller Jane movie realized on the big screen. According to the outlet, the production has signed two-time Academy Award nominee Jessica Chastain to play the title character.
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Created by Jimmy Palmiotti and Joe Quesada, Painkiller Jane made her first comic book appearance in the 1995 Image Comics miniseries 22 Brides. The following year, a somewhat retooled Jane returned in her own eponymous miniseries. There, audiences were introduced to Jane Vasko, a police officer whose cover is blown during an undercover narc op and who almost dies as a result. Instead, though, Jane gains regenerative powers and decides to take on a costumed identity and function as a vigilante.
In her two decades as part of the medium, Painkiller Jane has had several iterations of her own book (most recently through Dynamite) and has crossed over with characters like Mike Mignola‘s Hellboy, Marvel Comics‘ Punisher and even the Terminator!
Technically, the new film isn’t the first Painkiller Jane movie. Syfy (then, The Sci-Fi Channel) released a Painkiller Jane telefilm in 2005 with Emmanuelle Vaugier in the title role. Two years later, the property was rebooted into a short-lived TV series starring Kristanna Loken.
Jessica Chastain will also produce the Painkiller Jane movie through her Freckle Films. Although a recent iteration of the project had planned to have “Twisted Twins” Jen and Sylvia Soska take the director’s chair, the film appears to be without a helmer at the moment. Other producers on the Painkiller Jane movie include Lenny Beckerman of Lotus Entertainment and Stephen L’Heureux of Solipsist Films. Executive producers include and Bill Johnson, Ara Keshishian, Jim Seibel and Palmiotti himself.
(Photo Credit: Brian To / WENN.com)
