Richard Kadrey’s gritty “Sandman Slim” fantasy novels are being developed as a planned film franchise.

The Tracking Board reports that production company Studio 8 has acquired the rights to all eight (soon to be nine) books. Kel Symmons (“The Dungeon Masters”) is writing the screenplay for the first installment.

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Debuting in 2009 with "Sandman Slim," the novels follow James “Sandman Slim” Stark, a gritty antihero who spends 11 years as a gladiator fighting demons in Hell. He manages to escape, only to end up in Los Angeles -- which he perceives as simply another hell -- where he hunts down the people responsible for the death of his lover while being pursued by demons, vampires and all manner of hellish beasts. Characterized by its dark, twisted humor, “Sandman Slim” has garnered quite the following, with the first book landing on the Barnes & Noble’s list of Best Paranormal Fantasy Novels of the Last Decade.

Jeff Robinov’s Studio 8 has so far only announced work on the script for the first book, but the production company has shown an interest in developing "Sandman Slim" into a franchise. The company previously secured the rights to Hugh Howey’s sci-fi adventure “Beacon 23” and Mark Millar and Rafael Albuquerque’s “Huck.”