Darko to serve Tucker Max's 'Beer'

Bob Gosse to direct adaptation of bestseller

By TATIANA SIEGEL

Darko Entertainment has signed on to produce and finance the bigscreen adaptation of Tucker Max's bestseller "I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell."

Bob Gosse ("Niagara, Niagara") will direct the film, which is based on Max's real-life escapades when he embarked on an impromptu trip to celebrate his friend's bachelor party. Max and Nils Parker are adapting the screenplay.

Darko's Richard Kelly, Sean McKittrick and Ted Hamm are joining the producing team, which already includes Max, Parker, Max Wong, Karen Firestone and Aaron Ray. Shaun Redick and Ray Mansfield exec produce.

The Collective will be representing North American rights to the film.

Film is casting, and production will begin in Shreveport, La., at the beginning of July.

"Richard, Ted and I all appreciated Tucker's gonzo style of writing in his book and had long been following the project," McKittrick said. "The story's uniqueness appealed to our own sensibilities of storytelling."

Darko, which was launched in 2007 by writer-director Kelly, producer McKittrick and financier Hamm, is in post-production on Kelly-helmed psychological thriller "The Box," starring Cameron Diaz, James Marsden and Frank Langella. The company has also partnered with Killer Films and producer Rob Paris to finance writer-director Abe Sylvia's feature debut, "Dirty Girl."

"I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell" has stayed on the New York Times bestseller list since its debut in 2006.