The Untouchables: Capone Rising: According to Variety, Paramount has tapped scribes David Levien and Brian Koppelman to pen The Untouchables: Capone Rising, a prequel to the 1987 pic. Antoine Fuqua will direct.

Art Linson, who produced the original, will produce the prequel with John Linson.

"The Untouchables" was also a 1959-63 TV series starring Robert Stack as Ness. Both the series and the De Palma feature were based on the novel of the same name by Oscar Fraley.

The prequel will concern Capone and the early version of Irish cop Jimmy Malone, who is as crooked as every other Chicago cop until Capone becomes king of the underworld.

"The film starts on the eve of Capone's arrival, and while Malone wasn't the most corrupt cop, he operated at a time when every cop was on the take," Levien said. "Once he crosses paths with Capone, he sees a level of violence and criminality that causes him to have a moral awakening."

"This period of Capone's life hasn't been done since the movies of the '40s and '50s," Koppelman said. "Sherry Lansing and Donald De Line said feel free to come up with the most compelling, dark, violent and complicated guy you've ever seen."