Nathan Fillion wrote his own crime thriller — and Lionsgate just bought the movie rights
Nathan Fillion says the film rights to his debut comic, Witness Point, have been sold — but the buyer’s identity is the bit you’ll want to find out.
So, Nathan Fillion has been a bit of a telly mainstay for what feels like forever—whether you're into retro cult stuff like Firefly or you've stuck with him through years of endless Castle reruns. More recently, he’s been running around LA pretending to be the world’s oldest rookie cop on ABC’s The Rookie, which, by the way, is somehow still going and about to hit its ninth series. The man clearly likes a uniform, but now it turns out he’s got eyes on something darker—and a bit more personal—over in the world of comics and film.
From Primetime Cop to Comic Noir
Fillion hasn’t just pinched someone else’s story for his next project—he’s actually written the thing, or at least co-written it with Heath Corson, with haunting artwork by Soo Lee. The comic in question is Witness Point, a four-issue crime saga from Dark Horse Comics. It only debuted in July 2026, but readers don’t have to wait long: the final issue lands on 25 November 2026.
Witness Point started its Dark Horse run in July 2026 and wraps up with issue four this November.
The plot’s proper bleak Midwest stuff: Baraboo, Wisconsin is hiding a witness protection hub, but then a U.S. Marshal gets murdered, and suddenly the hunt is on—a local sheriff and a deputy marshal trying to sniff out the killer amongst a bunch of not-quite-ex-crims all hiding secrets. Imagine one of those old wooden rollercoasters in the dark—full of twists and probably splinters.
Big Screen Ambitions (and No Shortage of Confidence)
Anyway, during one of those livestream things—this one hosted by Patton Oswalt and featuring both Corson and Lee—Fillion let slip that Lionsgate has snapped up the film rights. He was at pains to say it’s early days and nobody’s filming anything just yet, but if the panel was anything to go by, they genuinely think they’re onto something franchise-worthy here. Here’s how Fillion put it during the Comic Creators Block Party stream:
We sold the book, we're going to see how it goes from there, to Lionsgate. We're very excited. This is the thing, this plot, this idea, this whole concept is an engine that will keep this thing running. It's got nothing but potential. You could go deep, you could go layers deep, flashbacks to the past. Are you kidding?!
Soo Lee was immediately nodding along—apparently there’s plenty of material for more stories, spin-offs, and endless dodgy townies with something to hide. No surprise then that the comic team’s already busy hashing out a sequel series, due in 2027, so expect even more moody Wisconsin drama coming to shelves soon.
The DC Cloud Hanging Over It All
Fillion’s latest crime caper timing is… interesting. He’s recently carved out a spot in the DC Universe playing Guy Gardner—that’s Green Lantern with the dodgy bowl cut, if you’ve not been keeping up. He made his first appearance in Superman, showed up again in Peacemaker, and has an ongoing bit in HBO’s Lanterns. Or, at least, he did. It’s all gone a bit murky since James Gunn and Peter Safran bailed as DC Studios bosses and Jeremy Latcham took over. Now everyone’s talking about yet another creative shake-up, and several projects—including the planned Lanterns season two—are suddenly looking very much up in the air.
For now, Fillion is still locked in for Man of Tomorrow next year and the animated Mister Miracle, but Witness Point comes at just the right moment: a high-profile cinematic project of his own to focus on while the superhero stuff sorts itself out—if it ever does.