Damn, there’s a lot of serial killer stories in production right now. I suppose there always is. We love cat-and-mouse stories, and they’re in top form if there’s a real sicko to center it around. But man, it feels like I’ve been writing a lot of “[Actor] Tapped for Serial Killer Tale] lately.

This one is actually going before cameras.  Millennium Films announced today that The Iceman has finally come together with Michael Shannon, James Franco, and Benicio Del Toro. Ariel Vroman will direct from a screenplay he co-wrote with Morgan Land, based on Anthony Bruno’s book The Iceman: The True Story of a Cold-Blooded Killer.

If you follow true crime tales, you know of Richard Kuklinski, aka The Iceman.   He was actually a professional killer, under contract to the mob, so it isn’t quite a Devil in the White City horror story.    But Kuklinski was a fairly nasty guy. He preferred freezing victims to death (hence the nickname), disguising their time of death, and throwing police off his trail.    He was also notable for having one hell of a double life.  He had such a skill of detachment that he was able to go home to his idyllic family, and convince friends and neighbors he was an average businessman.     By the  time he was caught, he’d killed well over 100 people, and felt absolutely no remorse. He was only sorry for hurting his family.

The Iceman has been in and out of development for a few years now. Mickey Rourke was attached to play Kuklinski at one point, as was Channing Tatum.  Now it’s gone to Michael Shannon.  Damn right.To quote our own valued member Stelios on Shannon: “Aww! Look at that sweet, sweet face … If that doesn’t say ‘I’ll eventually use your stuffed carcass for a pillow’, nothing does.”

Benicio Del Toro will play Kuklinski’s boss, notorious mobster Ray Demeo, and Franco will be a mentor assassin named Mr. Softee.   Yes, really.

There’s no starting date yet.  There’s a part of me that wants to urge Millennium to take its time. No rush.  I can only take so much scary Shannon.  Between this, Boardwalk Empire, and the My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done that’s lurking on my Netflix queue, I don’t need to stay awake worrying he’ll show up to say hi.

(Just kidding. I’m sure he’s a really nice guy.)