David Fincher's Torso

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September 4, 2008


Se7en director David Fincher's next project will reportedly be the long-in-development adaptation of the Brian Michael Bendis graphic novel Torso.

Ehren Kruger (The Ring) penned the screenplay adaptation.

According to The Plain Dealer, Paramount Pictures "wants to shoot Torso, a big-budget production that will star Matt Damon as Eliot Ness, early next year in Cleveland. But studio officials say they need incentives to film in the state."

Ness, who had previously brought down Chicago ganglord Al Capone, spearheaded the hunt for the serial killer dubbed the Cleveland Torso Murderer from 1935 to 1938. The killer was never captured and Ness' once promising career tragically ended in failure.

Torso producer Bill Mechanic advised the paper, "We want to shoot the entire movie, the interior and exterior shots, in Cleveland because that's where the action takes place and so we wouldn't have to relocate the crew. But without incentives, it doesn't look like we can afford it."

I'm really hopin that Fincher can get this one off the ground. Although I'm not so much a fan of "Zodaic" most because of conflicting expectations and results, the man does know how to make a good gruesome crime film. I say hoping he can do this, because based on an article I think I read on CHUD, his "Benjamin Button" film is not garnering such a positive buzz. Fincher is the kind of director a studio is willing to take a chance on, and they have as far as they are concerned with "Zodiac". Looks like "Button" is aiming to be the same kind of studio disappointment "Zodiac" was, in which case they might not let him have the go ahead on "Torso" unless he promises to deliver another "se7en" and work under THEIR rules. Good luck Dave!