Mickey Rourke has taken the reins from Channing Tatum in a film version of Philip Carlo’s book The Ice Man. The book centers around the mystique of Richard Kuklinski, a real-life contract killer for the Italian-American mafia who happened to slay 200 people until his death in 2006.

The man was particularly cruel, and I don’t think Rourke would take offense to the comment that he has an ability to embody someone with the ferocity of Kuklinski far more capably than Tatum.

Carlo announced after meeting with Rourke that the pair would be “producing it together. We’ll shoot in the spring in New York, New Jersey and Florida.” Also, according to Carlo, “[Rourke's] talking about it being his Raging Bull. ” While no director has been attached to the film (it’s not even apparent whether Carlo will be writing the script or not), it seems that at least Carlo and producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura are aiming to transform a monster into Oscar gold.

What do you think? Does a story like Kuklinski’s deserve to be rewarded with a high-profile Oscar-bait film?