Movie rights to the Vertigo comic property Preacher, by Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon, have been picked up by Columbia, with Sam Mendes attached as director, according to the Hollywood trades.  No writer is attached to date. 

A Preacher series for HBO was recently deep-sixed (see “Preacher Defrocked”).  A movie was in development some years ago (see “Preacher to Start Shooting in June?”), but that didn’t get off the ground either. 

Mendes has previously directed a well-received comic adaptation, Road to Perdition (see “Road to Perdition Wows Critics”).