The efforts of Eliot Ness and his gang of Untouchables in bringing down Al Capone have been well known for ages now, documented in both movies and television, most prominently in the 1987 Brian De Palma movie, The Untouchables. With that story just about told to death, it’s time to move on to another Eliot Ness tale.
Yes, Ness did more than just bring down Al Capone. Apparently after that monumental event the agent went on to head a lesser known crime investigation when torsos began appearing in the Cleveland river and notes began arriving in Ness’s office, taunting him. The story of that crime was captured by Brian Michael Bendis and Marc Andrey-Ko in a graphic novel which is now slated to become the motion picture Torso according to The Hollywood Reporter
Don’t expect this to be quite the same tale De Palma weaved in his film. David Fincher (Se7en, Fight Club) has been announced to direct Torso, which will feature Ness putting together a Untouchables type group of ex-police officers in an effort to catch the serial murderer. Given Fincher's other films, I'd expect this to be a much more graphic film then the 1987 drama. Fincher is expected to start production work on the film following his currently in production Zodiac, another serial killer film starring Jake Gyllenhall.
Fincher’s best successes have usually involved Brad Pitt, so it wouldn’t be completely strange to hear his name tossed around in speculation. The timing of this film is kind of odd though. The graphic novel the movie will be based on was released in the late ‘90s, and Untouchables was hot in the late ‘80s. Wouldn’t those have been better eras for another story featuring Eliot Ness?
