Back in 2004, Brian De Palma was trying to figure out what his next project would be. Captivating his interest was a book titled Toyer by Gardner McKay. He eventually decided not to do it and made The Black Dahlia instead. It was a serious mistake that he is now trying to rectify.
Vulture reports that the director, who hasn't made a movie since 2007's Redacted, is once again working to make a film adaptation of the novel. In the book, a psychotic man nicknamed "The Toyer" has established a special modus operandi: he follows and psychologically tortures beautiful women before putting them in medically induced comas. Because the police and prosecutors can't stick him with anything more than a "mayhem" charge, he is put down as a low priority. Seeing him as a threat, however, a female doctor who treat's the toyer's patients and a newspaper editor team up to try and trap him so that they can get justice.
It has been a long, long time since De Palma made a film that wasn't tenuous, frustrating and convoluted (I would offer cash to someone that can clearly explain what the hell happens in the first Mission: Impossible). Provided that the director calms the fuck down and stops trying to lose the audience around every corner, this might be the project to return him to top director status.
