Kurt Johnstad tapped to write Rob Liefeld and Jake Gyllenhaal’s Prophet

Sam Hargrave is tapped to direct and Jake Gyllenhaal is set to star in Prophet, a film based on the comic book series created by Rob Liefeld. It has now been announced that Kurt Johnstad will be writing the film.

Kurt Johnstad has adapted a few comic properties for film before. He wrote the screenplays for 300 (and 300: Rise of an Empire) and Atomic Blonde. Marc Guggenheim wrote the original script for the film. It’s unknown if Johnstad’s take is a rewrite or a tweak of that.

John Prophet first debuted in July 1992 in the pages of Youngblood #2, written and drawn by Rob Liefeld. The character became an instant hit with audiences and created a demand that he star in his own showcase series featuring art by Dan Panosian from stories and layouts by Liefeld.

The general story of Prophet revolves around a man conscripted by the Germans towards the end of World War II. He’s experimented on and given superhuman strength. He’s then buried alive after a bombing trapping him. He eventually escapes to a world that has moved on.

Prophet has had an on again off again publishing history with his first running eleven issues and a second in 1995 lasting eight issues. A one-shot was released in 2000 by Awesome Comics. In 2012 a new series launched with issue #21 and ran until 2014 with Prophet #45. In January 2016 Prophet: Earth War launched and ended after six issues in November 2016. Recently, Prophet #1 Remastered was released.

The Prophet film was originally announced in October 2021.