Video: Slipknot's Shawn "Clown" Crahan to Direct Film Adaptation of 'Officer Downe' Graphic Novel

Officer Downe, the original graphic novel created by Joe Casey (Man of Action) and artist Chris Burnham, is getting the feature-film treatment with Slipknot's Shawn "Clown" Crahan set to direct the Casey-penned script.

The Man of Action/Image Comics title Officer Downe details the story of a brutal supercop who continually dies in the line of duty, only to be resurrected by his superiors and sent back onto the streets every time. Skip Williamson (producer, Underworld, Crank) and Mark Neveldine (director, Crank, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance) will produce the feature along with Casey. Slipknot manager Cory Brennan executive produces.

Crahan, co-founder of Slipknot, directs many of the band's music videos and makes his feature directorial debut with Officer Downe. Those videos have garnered 100 million views, and Slipknot have sold 20 million albums/DVD's worldwide while headlining this summer's biggest music fests from Ozzfest to Roskilde to Download.

Casey is a founding partner in Man of Action Studios, the entertainment company that created Ben 10, the megahit 3 billion dollar boys' action empire and the biggest superhero launch of the past decade. Founded by comic book creators and acclaimed comic writers, many Man of Action titles are being turned into features, including The Great Unknown, and television series, including Casey's Disco Destroyer.

"I make comics because I love them, not to be back-door movie pitches" Casey says, "but this turned out to be a unique opportunity to go deeper and explore the characters in ways our printed page count prevented."

Confirming the film adaptation requires "more over-the-top set pieces to illustrate how incredibly chewed up and broken Officer Downe gets on the job, this makes someone with Crahan's eye the perfect, twisted match for this material," says Casey. "We feel like the team of Clown, Joe, Skip and myself will really have a great opportunity to make a low budget, visceral, exciting franchise that we can bring to all markets and platforms," Neveldine says. "This kind of insanity has worldwide appeal and social media will be a big part in how we attack it."