Exclusive: Director Adam McKay on His Vision for THE BOYS; Confirms R Rating and Compares it to WATCHMEN

A few weeks ago we broke the news director Adam McKay (Anchorman, The Other Guys) was in serious talks with Sony Pictures to helm an adaptation of the comic book series The Boys by Garth Ennis (Preacher) and illustrator Darick Robertson (Transmetropolitan).   Cut to today.   With McKay’s The Other Guys junketing in Los Angeles, I was able to sit down for an exclusive interview.  Towards the end of our conversation, I asked him the status of The Boys and what’s his take on the material.

Thankfully, he was super happy to talk about the project and he not only confirmed he’s in talks with the studio, but he answered fans prayers by saying it has to be rated R.  He said, “it doesn’t work unless it’s R.”  He also said he told Sony it has to be R and they are on board with the rating.  McKay then compared The Boys to Watchmen by saying it’s a “current day Watchmen” and he went on to say it looks at what a hero is and “places it in a time where monopolies have bought our country and you incorporate that as well.”  Says he hasn’t been that excited about something in a long time.

Hit the jump to watch what McKay had to say about the project and he also talks about how long he has read comic books.  If you’re a fan of The Boys, you’re going to love what he has to say:

And for people not familiar with The Boys, according to Wikipedia,

“The series is set in a contemporary world very much similar to the real one, with one notable exception: a number of people have some form of superpower. The series follows a superpowered CIA squad, known informally as ‘The Boys’, whose job it is to keep watch on superheroes and, if necessary, intimidate or kill them.”

The Boys are comprised of the characters, “Billy Butcher”, “Hughie Campbell”, “Mother’s Milk”, “The Frenchman”, “The Female (of the Species)”, “Lieutenant Colonel Greg D. Mallory”, and “The Legend”.