Torso and Roy Lee and Zach Cregger Michael Bendis; Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images; Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images Share on Facebook Share on X Google Preferred Share to Flipboard Show additional share options Share on LinkedIn Share on Pinterest Share on Reddit Share on Tumblr Share on Whats App Send an Email Print the Article Post a Comment Logo text You can't keep a good Torso down. An adaptation of the graphic novel by Brian Michael Bendis and Marc Andreyko that has been winding its way around Hollywood for over two decades is alive once again. Netflix has picked up the movie rights to the work and is in early development on a feature adaptation of the true-crime story revolving around Elliot Ness. The deal comes after a brief but intense bidding war and is said to be in the seven figures for the rights. No writer or director are attached yet, but the producing team is stacked. Vertigo Entertainment's Roy Lee has partnered once again with his Weapons filmmaker Zach Cregger, who will produce (but not direct) via his Subconscious production banner. Alex Hedlund and Nick Antosca will produce via their shingle, Eat the Cat, known for prestige, true-life fare such as Candy and A Friend of the Family. Bendis and Andreyko will exec produce. The graphic novel, initially published by Image Comics as a six-issue limited series, told the true story of Ness' time after his famous Al Capone escapades. After he moved to Cleveland, he and got embroiled in the hunt for a serial killer who was leaving torsos in the river and taunting notes to police. Bendis and Andreyko wrote the story, with Bendis doing the art. Related Stories Movies Amy Madigan May Be a Golden Globe Nominee for 'Weapons,' but Stays Cautious About That Aunt Gladys Prequel: "Until It's Real, It's Not Real" Movies 'Weapons' Filmmaker Zach Cregger on Script-to-Screen Changes and Bill Hader's Key Contribution Torso's "The Untouchables meets Zodiac" tones attracted Hollywood early on. In the early 2000s, Zodiac filmmaker David Fincher himself was going to direct an adaptation for Paramount as a follow-up to his serial killer masterpiece and even had Matt Damon attached and a script by Ehren Kruger. It also had Bill Mechanic, Don Murphy and Spawn creator Todd McFarlane producing. At the last moment, Paramount blinked and let the rights lapse. It thought the budget was too high, and Fincher's desire to do it in black-and-white didn't help quell fears of commerciality. In 2013, David Lowery, who had drawn heat for his Sundance film Ain't Them Bodies Saints, wrote a script he was due to direct in a version that would have been produced by Circle of Confusion, the shingle behind AMC's The Walking Dead. There was a detour in 2017 that would have seen Paul Greengrass direct a Brian Helgeland script when the project was titled Ness while in the early 2020s, Corin Hardy (The Nun, Gangs of London) was developing a version. Torso's new deal was signed in late November. Lee's Vertigo is known for its thrillers of various stripes. This year alone, the company's output ranged from the sci-fi tinged Companion to Stephen King adaptation The Long Walk to horror sensation Weapons and the psychological thriller The Plague, which earned three Indie Spirit Award nominations i November. Lee has also established a partnership with Cregger, collaborating on Weapons after first working on cult hit Barbarian. Cregger is currently in production on Resident Evil, a reboot of the zombie franchise for Sony Pictures. Eat the Cat's recent output includes the Chucky TV series as well as Hulu's true crime mini-series Murdaugh: Death in the Family. The banner is now in post on a buzzy limited series take on Cape Fear that stars Javier Bardem, Amy Adams, and Patrick Wilson. Torso Brian Michael Bendis THR Newsletters Sign up for THR news straight to your inbox every day Subscribe Sign Up trailers Guile's Hair Is the Star of the 'Street Fighter' Movie Teaser Trailer, and That's Not a Good Thing Walter Salles Arthur Cohn, Three-Time Oscar-Winning Producer, Dies at 98 Noah Baumbach 'Awards Chatter' Pod: Noah Baumbach on 'Jay Kelly,' Awkwardness of Semi-Autobiographical Films, and Falling in Love With Greta Gerwig On Screen and Off Oscar Isaac How Guillermo del Toro Achieved His Lifelong Dream of Adapting 'Frankenstein' Zootopia 2 Box Office Annihilation: 'Zootopia 2' Zooms Past the $1 Billion Mark Globally in Only 17 Days THR Original Video "Once You See That Stuff Projected, You Don't Really Turn Back": THR's Cinematographers Roundtable trailers Guile's Hair Is the Star of the 'Street Fighter' Movie Teaser Trailer, and That's Not a Good Thing Walter Salles Arthur Cohn, Three-Time Oscar-Winning Producer, Dies at 98 Noah Baumbach 'Awards Chatter' Pod: Noah Baumbach on 'Jay Kelly,' Awkwardness of Semi-Autobiographical Films, and Falling in Love With Greta Gerwig On Screen and Off Oscar Isaac How Guillermo del Toro Achieved His Lifelong Dream of Adapting 'Frankenstein' Zootopia 2 Box Office Annihilati