News > Paramount lets 'Torso's' Rights Lapse

Paramount let the rights for graphic novel adaptation "Torso" lapse.  According to THR.com David Fincher was set to direct while the movie was attracting big names like Matt Damon and Casey Affleck for roles.

The "Torso" graphic novel was written by Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Andreyko. It's a crime thriller that tells the true story of Treasury Department agent Eliot Ness' time after his Al Capone days.

The comic was first optioned by "Spawn" creator Todd McFarlane, who had Bendis and Andreyko pen their own script at Dimension. Later, producer Don Murphy came on board and went to producer Bill Mechanic and his Pandemonium shingle, which brought in Fincher, who made "Fight Club" when Mechanic was head of Fox. In early 2006, they took the package to Paramount, which hired Ehren Kruger to adapt it.

"It's a weird and odd situation," Bendis said. "We heard it was greenlit one day, then the next we heard it wasn't. Hopefully, it'll have a happy ending."