De Palma and THE BLACK DAHLIA

By: Patrick Sauriol
Date: Thursday, January 08, 2004
Source: Variety

After being stuck seemingly forever in development hell, it looks like James Ellroy's BLACK DAHLIA film is finally getting a pardon. MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE director Brian De Palma has climbed aboard the project and actors Mark Wahlberg (THE ITALIAN JOB) and Josh Hartnett (HOLLYWOOD HOMICIDE) will star.

The movie is based on the crime novel by Ellroy (the writer of L.A. CONFIDENTIAL among others) and concerns the famous 1947 murder of a Hollywood starlet named Elizabeth Short. Short's crumpled body was discovered in a remote lot by Hollywood police and showed signs of being tortured to death. Her murder has never been solved.

Josh Friedman's screenplay for the film will weave a fictional story between two detectives investigating the case and the underworld of Hollywood corruption they uncover. A subplot introducing a dead ringer for Elizabeth Short will generate romantic sparks with both men.


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