It was an unusually rainy Friday morning in Austin, Texas, but that didn’t stop AMC from kicking off one of the first major events of the South by Southwest festival. “Welcome to Annville,” an exhibit dedicated to AMC’s upcoming supernatural drama, Preacher, opened.
In Downtown Austin, two large theater screens projected scenes of Preacher, which is co-developed and produced by Seth Rogen. The 33-year-old comedian typically takes on lighter-toned work, but is eager to transition into a heavier genre.
“We’re fans of the comic,” he told reporters at the Television Critics Association press tour in January. “We love the comic. And we’re going to make a show that we like, so we hope that translates to people that love the comics, as well.”
In addition to the footage screened at the SXSW Preacher installation, a towering upside-down church loomed in the center of the Red River lot. It was the spitting image of a teaser poster that Rogen revealed in September, via Twitter. This imagery almost certainly alludes to the antithetical themes of heaven vs. hell, God vs. the Devil, life vs. death and so on explored in AMC’s new series. SXSW attendees were encouraged to take selfies with the church and tweet mentions to AMC’s official account.
Here is the official synopsis of Preacher, courtesy of AMC: Based on the twisted and popular '90s comic book franchise of the same name, Preacher, created by Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon, is the story of Jesse Custer - a conflicted Preacher in a small Texas town who is inhabited by a mysterious entity that allows him to develop a highly unconventional power. Jesse, his ex-girlfriend, Tulip, and an Irish vampire named Cassidy embark on a journey to, literally, find God.
Preacher stars Dominic Cooper (Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter) as Jesse Custer, Ruth Negga (Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) as Tulip and Joe Gilgun (Misfits) as Cassidy. Seth Rogen’s childhood friend and filmmaking collaborator Evan Goldberg co-created the show, along with Breaking Bad writer Sam Catlin.
AMC will screen the world premiere of Preacher’s pilot at SXSW on March 14, and the series is set to arrive on television in May. Stay tuned to iDigitalTimes for continuing coverage of SXSW 2016.
