Source:Variety

November 20, 2008

Producer Mark Canton (300) is teaming with Pterodactyl Productions on a pair of big screen projects that include a film about iconic cowboy character and B-movie Western staple Bill "Hopalong" Cassidy, says The Hollywood Reporter.

Created in 1904 by writer Clarence E. Mulford, the Cassidy character appeared as a rough-talking galoot in a series of popular stories and novels before segueing to the big screen in 1935 as a clean-cut hero. William Boyd played the character in 66 films throughout the 1930s, '40s and '50s.

Affectionately known by millions as "Hoppy," the character also spawned comic books, radio serials and the first network TV Western series. Cassidy also became the first image to be featured on a lunchbox.

Canton and Pterodactyl are also tackling another story engrained in pop culture, that of the French Connection heroin heist perpetrated by a group of NYPD narcotics detectives. Honor for Sale, based on a book by Gerald Kelly, will revolve around the group of detectives who ran the largest narcotics distribution ring in the '70s. The true story inspired the two "French Connection" films from the '70s as well as the recent American Gangster.

The script was written by the late John Bishop.