A popular comic series is finally moving forward towards the silver screen. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Sam Mendes has signed on to direct an adaptation of the comic book series, Preacher for Columbia Pictures.

The Vertigo comic book was created by Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon and centered on a Texas preacher who has been possessed by the unholy alliance of an angel and a demon, named Genesis. The preacher teams up with an ex-girlfriend and an Irish vampire on a quest to find God, who had apparently just up and left his post in heaven.

The comic property had gone through several stages of development with several different production companies - including an hour-long HBO TV series and a film from Kevin Smith's View Askew, with James Marsden attached to star - but none had successfully gotten off the ground.

No writers are attached to the project as of yet, but Mendes will be searching for writers while he preps his Revolutionary Road for a December 26 release.