Eight Billion Genies Movie Gets Promising Update From Charles Soule

Charles Soule has a new update on the long-gestating Eight Billion Genies movie at Amazon Studios, and it's an optimistic one.

The comic co-creator told Collider at FanX Salt Lake City that Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse Oscar winner Rodney Rothman has written multiple drafts of the script. Soule and artist Ryan Browne, both executive producers on the film, read the latest version in June.

"Rodney Rothman wrote a phenomenal script that Ryan and I got to read in June," Soule said. "It's several drafts in, so it's very polished. It's a hell of a script, and now we're just waiting to see what happens next."

Prime Video acquired the rights to Eight Billion Genies in 2022. The eight-issue Image Comics series, which ran from 2022 to 2023, imagines a world where every person on Earth suddenly receives a genie that grants one wish apiece. Chaos follows as people race to fulfill their desires, with the story centered on a group of strangers trapped in a Michigan bar when the genies arrive.

Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg's Point Gray banner came aboard to produce in 2024. Amazon has plans for a cross-media universe starting with a film and expanding into series and other projects, though specific release plans remain unannounced.

Rothman's adaptation makes significant changes from the source material, which Soule called "a little bit of a letting go" but also "kind of awesome."

"Reading the scripts for Eight Billion Genies is like, well, this is the story that Ryan and I made, but it's also not," Soule said. "Rodney, who's incredible, did a great job. He made choices, and you have to make choices when you're adapting to another medium."

Soule, who also created the character Muse for his Daredevil run with artist Ron Garney, saw that character adapted nearly one-to-one for Disney+'s Daredevil: Born Again. He compared the experience of seeing his work come to life to "a little bit weird" but ultimately "honoring."

Eight Billion Genies remains in development at Amazon Studios with no release date set.