Following a hotly-contested bidding war, New Line Cinema stood victorious with the film rights to Nicci French's "Land of the Living," a fairly intense-sounding story of horror, survival, and ... skepticism. Celebrated author James Ellroy is attached to adapt Ms. French's novel into screenplay form.

Says Variety: "New Line Cinema beat out several bidders to acquire screen rights to the Nicci French novel "Land of the Living," with James Ellroy set to write the script.

Deal was near seven figures both for the rights to the book and Ellroy's script fees. Novel was published two years ago but gained steam when Ellroy pitched his take on the novel and to do his first adaptation of a book other than his own.

Story concerns a promiscuous woman who's captured and tortured by a serial killer. After surviving the ordeal, she has to figure out what happened because cops and even her friends think she fabricated the story."

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Movies based on Ellroy's books include "Cop" (1988), "L.A. Confidential" (1997), "Dark Blue" (2003), and Brian De Palma's upcoming "The Black Dahlia."