Press shy director David Fincher has been forced into a recent junket or two to promote the dvd of ZODIAC, apparently, and he could well be the next director to go cuckoo for comic books, with several projects in the works, including an adaptation of Brian Bendis’s TORSO, some CGI-adaptations of stories from Heavy Metal magazine, and a film based on THE KILLER by Matz, which could star Brad Pitt.

[Torso] is so not a serial-killer movie. It’s about the deconstruction of the myth of [Untouchables leader] Eliot Ness. It has way more to do with “Citizen Kane” than it has to do with “Seven.” Ehren Kruger wrote a script that’s pretty great. We were speaking with Matt Damon about it.

MTV: What about the reported adaptation of the graphic novel “The Killer”?

Fincher: Brad’s company is producing it. We have a writer and a graphic novel, and I think we have a take. It’s that thing we always love from contract-killer movies: the existential assassin. People love the existential assassin, and we’re hoping to cash in on that. [He laughs.]

MEANWHILE, IESB.net has many rumors that the JLA movie is being delayed! While an immanent start was once a possibility — and prep work is underway in Australia — the lack of announcements of the cast augurs ill:

“Justice League is indeed in danger of not starting production on time and maybe even getting scrapped altogether” is what a studio source told the IESB last week. “The concerns are that the script is not ready to go in front of cameras, and also that the budget is getting a bit out of control, the WGA strike has proven to be Kryptonite to Superman and friends.”

So while the cast is apparently locked, the studio has had to go back to the actors and extend their holds. IESB was told that at least two high level studio execs headed to Australia right before Christmas to try to resolve these issues and get the film get back on schedule.

Take a “mediocre cast” add a conflict with the much-anticipated DARK KNIGHT movie, and throw in antipathy from new studio head Jeff Robinov, and you can see why the JLA flick seems to be in jeopardy, Much more in link.