Friendship to the Max! Lumberjanes Coming to a Theatre Near You

Michael Moccio ’16 / Emertainment Monthly Editor-in-Chief

Holy mae Jemison! For those of you who are confused (and have been since the title), the two outlandish statements belong to Lumberjanes, the BOOM! Studios comic book making waves in the industry. Lumberjanes is a monthly comic done by an all-female creative team with an all-female cast, and queer and diverse leads. In an industry that’s been craving more innovation and diversity, BOOM! has been front and center in that regard, especially with Lumberjanes.

Which is why we at Emertainment were so dang excited about the announcement that Lumberjanes has been optioned by 20th Century Fox. This is related to the deal the film studio signed with BOOM!, giving them the first-look option at titles and creative properties they might be interested in producing. The idea of having this incredible story be translated and introduced to the film industry and to a wider audience is an amazing opportunity. Even the creators were having fun relating the news on Twitter.

So LUMBERJANES might be gettin' the "talkie treatment" at your local "moving picture house" http://t.co/XXK6XrNGGl

— Shannon Watters (@shanito) May 29, 2015

WE GOT OPTIONED, YOU GUYS, IS THE THING THAT HAPPENED

— Shannon Watters (@shanito) May 29, 2015

https://twitter.com/Gingerhazing/status/605459595608256512

According to the press release, Ross Richie (the Founder and CEO), Stephen Christy (an Emerson alum and President of Development), and Adam Yoelin (Senior Vice President of Film) will produce the movie together. President of Development [at Fox] Kira Goldberg nominated Will Widger, screenwriter of The Munchkin, a highlight of the 2014 Black List, to write the script.

As we said before, this is a great opportunity for BOOM! Studios to continue pushing their diverse and innovative platform forward. Should we be concerned that all of the current listed producers and screenwriter are all men, when the comic book is produced by an all-female creative team and the story is about an all-female cast? For now, it’s too early to tell. “As part of BOOM!’s partnership model, the creators will share equally in all aspects of the publisher’s first-look deal with Fox,” said the press release. With a company that has such an investment in its talent and employees, it’s hard to imagine that the creative team wouldn’t have some involvement.

What we can say, however, is that BOOM! has a track record of being at the forefront of making the industry more inclusive and—if that’s any indication—they’re going to nail this movie. It was BOOM! in the first place that gave co-creators Shannon Watters, Grace Ellis, and Noelle Stevenson the opportunity to make this book in the first place and it’ll be BOOM! who makes this movie the best it can be.