Paul Greengrass Will Direct the Eliot Ness Film Based on the Graphic Novel TORSO

Director Paul Greengrass (Bourne Ultimatum, Captain Philips) has officially signed on to helm the big screen adaptation of Brian Michael Bendis and Marc Andreyko’s graphic novel Torso, which tells the true story of Eliot Ness on the hunt for a serial killer.

The film will be called Ness and has been in development at Paramount Pictures for years. Over that time both David Fincher (Zodiac) and David Lowery (Pete's Dragon) have been attached to direct it. The project has now landed in the lap of Greengrass. Yeah, I would have rather seen Fincher direct it, but I think Greengrass will still give us a great movie. I like most of the films that he has made in his career.

The film will depict the true story of Eliot Ness’ time after his Al Capone days, when he moved to Cleveland and got embroiled in the hunt of a serial killer who was leaving torsos in the river and sending taunt-filled notes to police. 13 people were killed between 1934 and 1938, and they took place while Ness was city safety director. The murders were never solved.

This is a story that has always fascinated me, and I can't wait to see how Greengrass adapts it as a movie. 

The most recent draft of the script was written by Brian Helgeland (Green Zone, Man on Fire, 42), and Greengrass liked his script so much that he jumped on board to develop the film. The studio hopes to get the film into production by the end of the year. 

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