Jonah Hex Film Gets Director - Again

The film version of DC Comics’ Jonah Hex has a director – again.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Jimmy Hayward, director of the animated version of Horton Hears a Who! will make his live-action debut with the scarred bounty hunter. Previously, Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor (Crank) – who had also written the script - were attached to direct the film, but pulled out in November over reported differences with the Warner Bros.

Warner Bros. is looking to start production on the movie by March or April, with Josh Brolin starring in the title role. Neveldine and Taylor’s script – which features supernatural elements along with Jonah Hex’s traditional Western setting.

Previous to Horton, Hayward has worked as an animator on ReBoot, and at Pixar, where he worked on Toy Story, A Bug's Life, Toy Story 2, Monsters, Inc. and Finding Nemo, as well as Fox’s Robots.

Andrew Lazar's Mad Chance and Akiva Goldsman's Weed Road are producing the film.

The current series, written since its 2005 launch by Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray, reaches issue #39 this week. Since its debut Jonah Hex has told single-issue stories, a rarity in modern comics from a major publisher. The character was created in 1972 by writer John Albano and artist Tony DeZuniga.