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Benderspink Adapting Michael Marshall's The Straw Men
by Alex Billington
November 30, 2008
Benderspink has acquired rights to Michael Marshall's crime novel The Straw Men as well as the rights to Joe Brusha's comic book series based on the book being published by Zenescope Comics. The book, which is the first in a trilogy, follows a detective brought out of retirement to solve a series of bizarre murders connected by dark conspiracy. The Straw Men feature film will be produced by Chris Bender and J.C. Spink. No writer or director has been announced for this adaptation yet. Michael Marshall has a few other adaptations in development around Hollywood, including "Spares" and his short story "One of Us."
Here is an official intro to the story: "In Pennsylvania, two men in long coats walk calmly into a crowded fast food restaurant - then, slowly and methodically, gun down sixty-eight people. They take time to reload. On the Promenade of Santa Monica, California, a teenaged girl gives sightseeing tips to a distinguished English tourist. She won't be going home tonight. In Dyersburg, Montana, a grief-stricken son tries to make sense of the accident that killed his parents - then finds a note stuffed in his father's favorite chair. It says, 'We're not dead.' Three seemingly unrelated events, these are the first signs of an unimaginable network of fear that will lead one unlikely hero to a chilling confrontation with The Straw Men. No one knows who they are - or why they kill. But they must be stopped."
Sounds like a very interesting project that we'll be keeping our eyes on as it develops. Hopefully it gets the kind of high profile creative team that it needs to turn out pretty damn good. You can pick up a copy of the novel for fairly cheap on Amazon and any of the comics at your local comic book shop.
Reader Feedback - 2 Comments
1
One of Us is not a short story, it's the same length as Spares and One Of Us, Michael Marshall's (formerly Michale Marshall Smith) two other sci-fi thrillers. He now writes serial killer thrillers with weird otherworldly elements. For those in the know, The Island (feat. Ewan McGregor) was a rip-off of Spares - but with all the good bits missing.
mrbobbyboy on Dec 1, 2008
2
Thanks mrbobbyboy - not enough people realise that 'The Island' was a 'Spares' rip off. Don't know about anyone else, but I want to see an 'Only Forward' movie...
John Madden on Dec 1, 2008
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