Sony Pictures Picks Up ‘Shrink’ From ‘Deadpool’ Creator, A Story About A Psychiatrist For Superheroes
Rob Liefeldis best known for creating the fourth wall-breaking, wisecracking mutant mercenary known as Deadpool. But soon he’ll be responsible for another unique superhero project heading to the big screen.
Sony Pictures has picked up the original comic by Rob Liefeld calledShrink, which focuses on a female psychiatrist who offers therapy to various superheroes. The project was previously developed by Sony in the early 2000s, but it never went anywhere after that. WithDeadpoolbeing a hit, it would seem studios are interested in Liefeld’s subversive take on the superhero genre again.
Deadlinehas news on Rob Liefeld’sShrinkcomic book movie, which will be produced byDoug Belgradand his production banner 2.0,Adam Fieldsand theDeadpoolcreator himself. It was Fields who stumbled upon the project again after diving into three decades of projects that were once in development but got abandoned for one reason or another. So a new deal was struck to pick up the property again.
Shrink is described as a “a high-concept twist onAnalyze This,” the 1999 comedy starring Billy Crystal and Robert De Niro. That film followed Crystal as a psychiatrist who suddenly finds himself caught up in the mafia after reluctantly taking on an anxious mob boss as his client. So we can likely expectShrink’s female psychiatrist to get caught up in some superhero action.
WhenShrinkwas first brought to Sony back in the early 2000s,Crazy Stupid LoveandFocusdirectorsGlenn Ficarra & John Requahad written a script for the project. It’s not clear if that script will still be used as the starting point for this new attempt to turn Shrink into a movie, but hopefully it gets made this time.
With all the success that Liefeld has found withDeadpoolbeing one of the most popular new comic book movies, it wouldn’t be a surprise if more of his comic creations head to the big screen. Liefeld just so happens to have anew character calledMajor Xcoming to Marvel Comics this April in a six-issue event series. Could we see that character picked up for a movie in the future? Only time will tell.
In the meantime, many fans are wondering what will happen with Deadpool and X-Force now that Disney is taking over 20th Century Fox. Disney CEO Bob Iger has said theywon’t mess with the R-rated successof the Merc with a Mouth, but we’ll see how it goes. MaybeShrinkwill end up getting off the ground before the next Deadpool movie moves forward.
