David Fincher to
direct Torso

David Fincher is carving out room in his schedule for Torso, a thriller based on a graphic novel written by Brian Michael Bendis and Marc Andreyko, which he will direct for Paramount Pictures. Ehren Kruger is writing the adaptation, which will be produced by Pandemonium's Bill Mechanic, Angry Films' Don Murphy, and comic artist Todd McFarlane. Torso tells the true but relatively unknown story of Treasury Department agent Eliot Ness's time after his Al Capone days, when he moved to Cleveland to be the city's public safety officer. Torsos began appearing in the river, and Ness began receiving notes taunting him to catch the killer. Ness, who had no experience in police work, put together a team of ex-officers to apprehend the serial murderer.

The graphic novel was written by Bendis and the openly gay Andreyko and drawn by Bendis in the late 1990s. Bendis has since gone on to become one of the top writers in comics, with acclaimed runs on Daredevil and Ultimate Spider-Man. Several of his creator-owned comics are in development around town, including Jinx, which is set up at Universal Pictures with Charlize Theron attached. Andreyko has received acclaim for his gritty (and gay-inclusive) Manhunter title at DC Comics.

Torso first was optioned by Spawn creator McFarlane, and Murphy came aboard later to give the project traction. Murphy went to Mechanic, who brought in Fincher. Fincher directed Fight Club for Mechanic when Mechanic was head of 20th Century Fox. Kruger's credits include The Ring and The Ring Two, The Skeleton Key, and Arlington Road. Fincher is well-acquainted with the serial killer underworld, having directed the cult hit Seven. He is shooting Zodiac, starring Jake Gyllenhaal, about a 1970s San Francisco serial killer, which will be distributed domestically by Paramount. Torso will be Fincher's third movie for Paramount, behind Zodiac and the in-development fantasy-drama Benjamin Button. (Borys Kit, Reuters, with additional reporting from Advocate.com)