‘John Wick’ Filmmaker Chad Stahelski Tackling California Rebellion Comic ‘Calexit’ (Exclusive)
Calexit, the seemingly ripped-from-the-headlines comic from indie publisher Black Mask Studios, may be taking the idea of the California Resistance to the big screen.
Chad Stahelski, the filmmaker behind the John Wick movies, is attached to produce a feature adaptation of the comic.
Alex Young and Jason Spitz, Stahelski’s cohorts at 87Eleven Entertainment, will also produce as well of Matteo Pizzolo, Brett Gurewitz and Brian Giberson of Black Mask. The project is not yet set up at a studio or streamer.
Pizzolo, who isBlack Mask’s co-founder and president and who co-created the comic, wrote the script on spec.
You Might Also Like
The story is set in a near (and eerily familiar) future where America’s president signed an executive order to deport all immigrants, with California responding by proclaiming itself a sanctuary state. As the citizens of the state struggle to seize power back from an autocratic government, the story centers on Jamil, a war zone courier/smuggler, and Zora, a young leader in the Mulholland Resistance, who attempt to escape Occupied Los Angeles, a city under martial law.
The comic debuted in 2017 and proved to be a hot seller during the first Trump administration, going through seven printings and launching spinoffs Calexit: All Systems San Diego and Calexit: Our Last Night in America. Proving to be more timely than ever, a new storyline kicks off this week with Calexit: The Battle of Universal City, written by Pizzolo and drawn by Carlos Granda. It hits stores today.
The title previously sold to MRC in a five-studio bidding war for television, with a pilot spec also written by Pizzolo. It was optioned and then purchased, but ultimately the property and spec reverted. It’s now finding new life during the second Trump administration and being redeveloped as a feature.
Amancay Nahuelpan, who co-created the comic and drew the first volume, is co-producing.
Black Mask has grown a library of 100 comics and graphic novels that tend to take a modern and inclusive sensibility. Among the titles are Black, set in a world where only Black people have super powers, and Rogue State, set in a world where militias become the law of the land. The company’s 4 Kids Walk Into a Bank has been adapted into a feature by Miramax, PictureStart and Amazon Studios’ Orion and stars Liam Neeson. The thriller is now in postproduction.
On top of directing and producing the uber-hit Wick movies, Stahelski produced its recent spinoff, Ballerina, and the 2022 vampire thriller Day Shift. He is now prepping to direct Highlander for Amazon which will star Henry Cavill.
Stahelski is repped by WME and Johnson Shapiro. Pizzolo and Black Mask are repped by attorney Matt Sugarman at Weintraub Tobin.
