According to Variety, Warner Bros has picked up the rights to Adam Beechen and Manny Bello's 2004 graphic novel. The script will be adapted by McBride and his Eastbound And Down co-writer Shawn Harwell. No word yet on who will direct.

Hench centers around a former football player who, when injury ends his career, goes into the freelance henchman business with predictably unpredictable results.

WB nabs 'Hench' for McBride [Variety]

Larry Young's trilogy of books (illustrated by Charlie Adlard, with Matt Smith providing some art in the first book) - Live From The Moon, Space: 1959 and One Shot, One Beer - is much less space opera than space rock'n'roll, three books in a shared universe concentrating on the simple thrills of adventure, space travel and good old-fashioned storytelling. Each book involves a crew from Channel 7 News getting mixed up in some space-related plot courtesy of bad guys who are easily identifiable and easy to root against; Space: 1959 sees the news team take on Communists who are racing to put the first man on the moon... and are willing to kill to make it happen, for example. Who needs more of a high concept than that?

When asked about the possibility of an AiT movie last year, Young danced around the subject:

There's always something going on with the astronauts. Who doesn't think embedded reporters on mankind's return to the moon isn't a going concern? The thing's been optioned three times, and I'm sure it's out there in the consciousness. I sure do get a lot of atta-boys on that subject. Meetings are being held; the moon is being discussed.

It's time to fix that, Hollywood.

Astronauts in Trouble [AiT/PlanetLar]