Louisiana’s Secret Weapon – Victor Gischler’s Books Are Taking Over Hollywood

Louisiana is chock full of talent in all walks of life. Terry Bradshaw, Peyton Manning, Tyler Perry, Tim McGraw, Truman Capote, Anthony Mackie and Louis Armstrong are all Louisiana natives. And that's just barely scratching the surface of some of the incredible folks that rose to the top of their profession that called Louisiana home.

But, one person's name that you probably don't know but should is Victor Gischler. Victor is an author that live in Baton Rouge. And his books are now starting to get picked up for the big screen in Hollywood.

Victor Gischler's Journey from Louisiana to the Big Screen

Victor has been around for a long time and has had a fascinating career. His debut novel, GUN MONKEYS, was nominated for an Edgar Award (named for Edgar Allan Poe) - which is kind of a big deal in the literary world. That debut novel was recently turned into a major motion picture called Fast Charlie - starring Pierce Brosnan, Morena Baccarin, and James Caan.

Allegedly, Kevin Costner and Bryan Cranston were both interested in playing the lead for this film, but ultimately, the role went to Pierce. But, when you have Hollywood heavyweights fighting for a chance to be in your movie, you've done something right.

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Beyond Gun Monkeys, several other of Gischler's novels were nominated for various awards including Shotgun Opera.

If crime novels aren't your thing. Victor has dabbled in the world of fantasy and comic books. Including an extended run on comic book titles including the Punisher, Wolverine, X-Men, and Deadpool. In fact, many characters that Gischler helped create appeared in the latest Deadpool vs Wolverine movie - which is pretty darn cool.

Victor Gischler's Next Hollywood Project

Gun Monkeys and his contributions to the Deadpool universe aren't the only projects in the works. In fact, there's another project based off of his works set to debut sometime in the near future.

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The Deputy, based of Victor's 2010 novel of the same name, is almost set for a world debut. According to sources, the project just finished filming in the past couple of weeks and is in post production.

The film will star Duke Nicholson, William H. Macy, Tiffany Haddish, Stephen Dorff, among others. While the film isn't finished, according Screen Daily, several deals have been made for it's distribution rights recently.

How Can You Support Victor Gischler?

I don't know about you, but I love to support our local peeps. Whether it's an athlete or actor or writer. If you're like me and want to show Victor some love, there's several ways to do it:

• Stream Fast Charlie on Hulu
• Buy his books. You can find the full list of his novels here.
• See The Deputy when it gets released.
• Follow Victor on X

I met Victor at the very first Geek'd Con here in Shreveport 10 years ago, and have been a big fan of the man ever since. Can't wait to see what's next! Maybe we'll get a Shotgun Opera movie next.