I’m only assuming that you’re reading this post because either you’ve read the graphic novel I Killed Adolf Hitler, or the title of the strange novel has intrigued you. THR has informed us that the novel mentioned above has been optioned for a film development.
Coming from the mind of Norwegian cartoonist, who goes by Jason only, Hitler tells the story of an assassin who is sent back in time to destroy Hitler, “but things go very, very wrong as Hitler manages to come forward in time, leaving the assassin to deal with his predicament.” Although I haven’t read that many graphic novels in my time, the mere concept of this one sounds more interesting than most things I read about in the news today.
According to THR, Studio Eight have obtained the rights to the novel, and D.C. Walker has been hired to pen the script but whether the film will be animated or live, or even some kind of hybrid, is still yet to be determined. However, with the recent fame of Tintin, this project could be a huge hit, especially since Hollywood and the general public are fascinated by the image of Hitler and taking him down, even when we know the outcome (see: Valkyrie).
Here’s the full synopsis for the graphic novel, which you can check out via Amazon.
In this full-color graphic novel, Jason posits a strange, violent world in which contract killers can be hired to rub out pests, be they dysfunctional relatives, abusive co-workers, loud neighbors, or just annoyances in general — and as you might imagine, their services are in heavy demand. One such killer is given the unique job of traveling back in time to kill Adolf Hitler in 1939… but things go spectacularly wrong. Hitler overpowers the would-be assassin and sends himself to the present, leaving the killer stranded in the past. The killer eventually finds his way back to the present by simply waiting the decades out as he ages, and teams up with his now much-younger girlfriend to track down the missing fascist dictator… at which point the book veers further into Jason territory, as the cartoonist’s minimalist, wickedly dry sense of humor slows down the story to a crawl: for long patches absolutely nothing happens, but nobody can make nothing happening as riotously entertaining as Jason does… and finally, when the reader isn’t paying attention, he brings it together with a shocking, perfectly logical and yet completely unexpected climax which also solves a mystery from the very beginning of the book the reader had forgotten about.
Do you think I Killed Adolf Hitler would make an good movie?