Paxton Charts Lansdale's "The Bottoms"

Bill Paxton will direct an adaptation of author Joe R. Lansdale's racially-themed novel "The Bottoms" says Deadline.

Set in East Texas, the story follows a family who stumble across the body of a black woman who has been savagely mutilated and left to die in the bottom of the Sabine River. The townsfolk cover up the crime until the body of a white woman is found in similar circumstances. The family must then unearth the truth.

Brent Hanley ("Frailty") penned the adapted script.

Paxton says: 
 
“I have been a big fan of Joe Lansdale’s writing since the Hap and Leonard novels,” Paxton says. “His stories and characters are vivid, original, and indelible. The screenwriter Brent Hanley and I have been looking to team up again since Frailty, and when we read Joe’s book The Bottoms, we knew we had hit pay dirt. With a story and script this good, we have a chance to make a bonafide classic. I couldn’t be more excited!”

Production begins later this year.