While the collection of features that began with Red Road never got off the ground, the UK is trying again, with a different sort of feature. (One that will hopefully be fully completed and released.) Forget about a long drama like Zodiac -- Variety reports that three directors have signed on to helm films about the hunt for the Yorkshire Ripper in the 1970s and early 1980s -- each taking a certain time-span of the crimes, based on David Peace's collection of books called Red Riding Quartet. The books were adapted by Tony Grisoni, who did a heck of a job on the Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas adaptation, with Julian Jarrold (Becoming Jane) to cover Nineteen Seventy-Four, James Marsh (Man on Wire) to tackle Nineteen Eighty, and Anand Tucker (Shopgirl) to helm the final installment, Nineteen Eighty-Three. (Nineteen Seventy Seven will be split amongst the three other features.) The films will be brought together into a television series, with a theatrical release to follow (one that hopefully includes overseas distribution).
The tale of the Yorkshire Ripper -- Peter William Sutcliffe -- is pretty grisly. (Check that link for the whole story.) He was convicted in 1981, and while he is still alive, he has gotten a bit of the "eye for an eye" treatment from fellow criminals.
