‘Starlight’: Joe Cornish To Write And Direct Adaptation Of Mark Millar Sci-Fi Comic Book Series

Joe Cornish came out of the blocks hot, with the cult favorite Attack the Block, then a co-writing gig with Edgar Wright on Marvel’s Ant-Man. While the superhero gig sorta fell through, Cornish was pretty quiet until The Kid Who Would Be King just a couple of years ago. So his output has been slim for such a fan-favorite creator, however that’s about to change as he’s lined up a new comic book project to adapt for the big screen.

Deadline reports Cornish will write and direct an adaptation of Starlight, the sci-fi comic book series by Kick-Ass, Wanted, Kingsman, and Jupiter’s Legacy creator Mark Millar. The story has a very The Last Starfighter quality to it, centering on a man who believes he went adventuring in space 35 years earlier, but nobody believes him. He settles into a quiet family life, but all of that is disrupted when his old starship arrives and he’s asked to help save the universe once more.

This is still early on, and it’s unclear when 20th Century Studios intend to release the film into theaters. Simon Kinberg, best known for the X-Men franchise, is on board as a producer.

An earlier attempt to adapt Starlight had Gary Whitta (Rogue One) on the script and Sylvester Stallone eyeing the lead role.

Cornish has a couple of other projects cooking right now, including a new series he’s developing that has Edgar Wright as a producer. There’s also been talk of an Attack the Block sequel that would reunite him with John Boyega, but we’ll see about that.

Travis Hopson
Travis Hopson has been reviewing movies before he even knew there was such a thing. Having grown up on a combination of bad '80s movies, pro wrestling, comic books, and hip-hop, Travis is uniquely positioned to geek out on just about everything under the sun. A vampire who walks during the day and refuses to sleep, Travis is the co-creator and lead writer for Punch Drunk Critics. He is also a contributor to Good Morning Washington, WBAL Morning News, and WETA Around Town. In the five minutes a day he's not working, Travis is also a voice actor, podcaster, and Twitch gamer. Travis is a voting member of the Critics Choice Association (CCA), Washington DC Area Film Critics Association (WAFCA), and Late Night programmer for the Lakefront Film Festival.