Fantômas

Thomas Langmann's La Petite Reine is fast-tracking Fantomas, a big-screen makeover of the French fantasy detective novels, Variety reported. . Christophe Gans (Brotherhood of the Wolf) is writing the screenplay with David Martinez from an original story by Langmann. Gans also will direct. The 43 Fantomas novels, written by Marcel Allain and Pierre Souvestre and first published in 1911, follow Fantomas, an ingenious but amoral master of disguise and sadistic killer. The literary franchise is also a Gallic national crime-fiction treasure, having yielded multiple big- and small-screen and comic-book adaptations.

Influenced by The Dark Knight, Gans' adaptation sees Fantomas facing off with a villain of equal or even more dastardly dimensions. The movie will shoot in French and English, and begin casting shortly.

Fantômas is a fictional character created by French writers Marcel Allain (1885–1970) and Pierre Souvestre (1874–1914).

One of the most popular characters in the history of French crime fiction, Fantômas was created in 1911 and appeared in a total of 32 volumes written by the two collaborators, then a subsequent 11 volumes written by Allain alone after Souvestre's death. The character was also the basis of various film, television, and comic book adaptations. His importance in the history of crime fiction cannot be overestimated, as he represents a transition from Gothic novel villains of the 1800s, to modern-day serial killers.

Fantômas has no qualms about murder and is shown as a sociopath who enjoys killing in a sadistic fashion.

He is totally ruthless, gives no mercy, and is loyal to none, not even his own children. He is a master of disguise, always appearing under an assumed identity, often that of a person whom he has murdered. Fantômas makes use of bizarre and improbable techniques in his crimes, such as plague-infested rats, giant snakes, and rooms that fill with sand.