Gerard Way, lead singer of My Chemical Romance and writer/creator of the Dark Horse comic book series The Umbrella Academy, told Robert Sanchez of IESB.net at the Scream Awards ceremony that Universal Pictures has optioned The Umbrella Academy for the big screen and that the studio has suggested Diablo Cody (Juno) as a potential screenwriter for the project.  Last summer Universal released three major comic book-based movies, Hellboy II, Wanted, and The Incredible Hulk (Hellboy II and Wanted were both produced by Universal, while the Incredible Hulk was produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Universal).  With Marvel now making its own films and DC's corporate ties to Warner Bros., Universal has become increasingly aggressive in going after independent comic book properties.

Way told IESB that he had already had his first meeting with Universal about the film and that his personal choice for a director was Alfonso Cuaron (Y tu mama tambien, Children of Men, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban), though he remains “open to others as well.”  Way also mentioned to IESB that he had talked to costume designer Colleen Atwood (Sweeney Todd) about working on the film.

The Umbrella Academy, which was named the “The Best Finite Series” in the most recent Eisner Awards, will return with a second six-issue series from Dark Horse written by Way and illustrated by Gabriel Ba (who just took home the Scream Award for “Best Comic Book Artist”) that is due out in November (see “The Umbrella Academy Returns in November”).