Deadline has an exclusive that Mark Heyman will be adapting the book Syndrome E. for Paramount and Indian Paintbrush. The novel was originally published in France (it hit stateside this past summer) and is the first in a series by author Franck Thilliez.
Described as a thriller, SYNDROME E. is about, “a beleaguered detective named Lucie Hennebelle, who discovers that her friend comes down with a case of spontaneous blindness after watching an extremely rare and spectacularly violent film from the 1950s. The cop discovers that the film has been embedded with subliminal images that those who come in contact with it end up dead. The detective teams with a Paris cop who has been trying to figure out the film’s connection to five men murdered and left in the woods. Together they get to the bottom of what has to be the most disturbing and powerful film ever made. It has global and scientific implications, and its maker might well be the personification of evil and the origins of violence. The novel has been compared to SE7EN and THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO.”
The book also sounds like it has a bit of THE RING mixed in with it as well. SYNDROME E. has an intriguing plot and definitely some darkness to it, which Mark Heyman has proven he’s capable of scripting with his work on BLACK SWAN. It sounds a little bigger in scope than one would think but I’m all for it. However, it’s hard to get too excited when only one detail has been announced about who is going to work on this film. There’s a plot that might get you a little fired up, but a film like this could very easily end up looking like a direct to DVD movie. Tell me you’ve got a quality director then I’ll break out the party hats.