Netflix acquired the film rights to Torso, Brian Michael Bendis and Marc Andreyko’s true-crime graphic novel about Eliot Ness, in late November 2025 and is in early development on a feature adaptation, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The acquisition revives a project that has moved through several adaptation attempts over more than two decades.
Torso by Brian Michael Bendis and Marc Andreyko (graphic novel)
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The Hollywood Reporter described a brief bidding war and reported that the rights deal was worth seven figures. No writer or director was attached at the time of reporting.
Roy Lee will produce through Vertigo Entertainment alongside Zach Cregger, who will produce through his Subconscious banner but is not directing. Alex Hedlund and Nick Antosca will also produce through Eat the Cat, whose credits include Candy and A Friend of the Family. Bendis and Andreyko will serve as executive producers.
Originally published by Image Comics as a six-issue limited series, Torso follows Ness after his work on the Al Capone investigations in Chicago. Set in Cleveland, the story centers on his pursuit of a serial killer who leaves dismembered bodies in the area and taunts police with notes.
Earlier adaptation attempts
Variety reported in 2006 that David Fincher was set to direct Torso for Paramount, with Ehren Kruger writing the screenplay. According to The Hollywood Reporter’s subsequent accounts, Matt Damon was attached at one stage, but Paramount ultimately let the rights lapse amid concerns about the budget and Fincher’s intention to shoot in black and white.
In 2013, The Hollywood Reporter reported that David Lowery had joined a new adaptation to write and direct, with Circle of Confusion producing.
The project resurfaced at Paramount under the title Ness in 2017. Deadline reported that Paul Greengrass was negotiating to direct a screenplay by Brian Helgeland. In 2018, the publication reported that Paramount had abandoned that version.
Corin Hardy developed another version in the early 2020s, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Bendis also confirmed Hardy’s attachment in an interview with Looper.