DAVID FINCHER TO DIRECT PARAMOUNT PICTURES PROJECT

January 2006 - Tempe, ARIZ. - Todd McFarlane is at it again. McFarlane, along with Pandemonium's Bill Mechanic and Angry Films' Don Murphy will produce Paramount Pictures' upcoming film project, Torso. David Fincher will be directing the thriller based on a graphic novel written by Brian Michael Bendis and Marc Andreyko. Ehren Kruger is writing the adaptation. The start date for the project has not been set.

Torso tells the true story of Treasury Department agent Eliot Ness' time after he helped put Al Capone behind bars. This relatively unknown story centers around Ness after he moved to Cleveland to be the city's public safety officer. Human torsos began appearing around town, and Ness began receiving notes from the killer challenging Ness to catch him. It was this case, which garnered national headlines, which arguably created America's first true serial killer.

Torso was optioned by "Spawn" creator McFarlane after a comic company he co-owns published the original graphic novel. Murphy came aboard later and went to Mechanic, who brought in Fincher. Fincher directed Fight Club for Mechanic when Mechanic was head of 20th Century Fox. Kruger's credits include The Ring and The Ring Two, Arlington Road and more recently The Skeleton Key.

Fincher is well-acquainted with the serial killer underworld, having directed the cult hit Se7en. He is shooting Zodiac, the Jake Gyllenhaal starrer about the 1970s San Francisco serial killer, which will be distributed domestically by Paramount.

"Having nurtured this project for close to seven years now with TME President Terry Fitzgerald, I'm proud we've been able to assemble assembled such a strong team," says McFarlane. "Bill Mechanic, Don Murphy, Ehren Kruger and of course David Fincher have all been involved in many big movies of the past few years. Se7en is one of my favorite movies and Fincher's visual direction will bring a certain look and style to this project. As will Kruger's characterizations."

Todd McFarlane Entertainment, a division of the McFarlane Companies, produces award-winning animation, television, feature films and music videos. Past projects include Pearl Jam's animated music video "Do the Evolution", Korn's mini-movie-style video for "Freak on a Leash", Jodie Foster's critically acclaimed The Dangerous Lives of the Alter Boys. Animation and live-action projects under the production of Todd McFarlane and Terry Fitzgerald have won a Grammy, two Emmys, two MTV Music Awards, and a Much Music Video Music Award. A leader in publishing and entertainment, Todd McFarlane Productions owns the rights and trademarks to more than 250 intellectual properties and characters. McFarlane Toys is the fifth largest U.S. action figure manufacturer, featuring, Tim Burton's Corpse Bride, Wallace and Gromit, Napoleon Dynamite, Slash, Motley Crue, The Matrix, Shrek, Ozzy Osbourne, NASCAR drivers, The Beatles, KISS, Alien Vs. Predator, plus officially licensed football, baseball, basketball and hockey action figures. More information at Spawn.com.