Weapons director Zach Cregger is trading the paranormal for true crime as he sets his sights on adapting a grisly murder case with Netflix.
Cregger was attached to the project, and the streaming giant has won the bidding war for the film rights to the true crime graphic novel 'Torso' as reported by The Hollywood Reporter. Cregger will serve as producer under his Subconscious banner, but won't write or direct.
The novel, by Brian Michael Bendis and Marc Andreyko, tells the gruesome story of the Cleveland Torso Murderer, who killed a string of victims in the '30s, leaving their headless torsos for the police to find. Torso follows lawman Eliot Ness on his hunt for America's first serial killer. However, when dismembered body parts start washing up in a concentrated area of Lake Erie Sound with no clues to their identity or reason for death, Ness and his gang, 'The Unknowns', start to think they have bitten off a bit more than they can chew.
The graphic novel is in fact based on the true story of the Cleveland Torso Murderer, otherwise known as the Mad Butcher of Kingsbury Run. The killer dismembered thirteen known victims in the impoverished neighborhood of Kingsbury Run, known for its drinking culture, brothels, and homeless population. In real life, the investigation was at one time led by Ness, but unlike the book, the killer was never identified. This isn't the first time a filmmaker has tried to adapt the story, with the case attracting the likes of David Fincher, David Lowery, Paul Greengrass, and Corin Hardy.
Cregger is quickly making a name for himself in the horror genre, with his 2025 Weapons breaking box office expectations and making the fourth spot on our list of the Top 25 movies of 2025. However, the Barbarian director is not set to direct Torso, nor is anyone else at this time, with the project also missing a writer. Right now, Cregger is working on his upcoming Resident Evil movie, due to hit theaters on September 18, 2026.
Torso does not yet have a release date. For more, check out our guide to the best horror movies on Netflix, and keep up with upcoming horror movies heading your way.
