Well it may be dark and it may not be the most jaw-dropping image, but since this is the first official still from Chuck Palahniuk's Choke (one of my favorite books of all time), to me it's just as awesome as any photo of the Joker. Twitchfilm.net has posted the first still from Clark Gregg's (What Lies Beneath) big-screen version of Palahniuk's novel about sex-addiction, Alzheimer's, and a man who makes a living by pretending to choke in crowded restaurants. Sam Rockwell stars as Victor Mancini, the sex-addicted con man who is struggling to pay his mother's medical bills -- it almost sounds sweet if you leave out ... well, practically everything since usually when people think Palahniuk they definitely aren't thinking 'aww' (its usually more along the lines of; 'eww').

This seems to be my lucky day, since Erik just brought us the news that I Am Legend's Francis Lawrence is planning on bringing Palahniuk's novel Survivor to the screen as his next project. Like most of Palahniuk's novels, Choke is not going to be an easy sell to a lot of audiences. Let's just say that it takes a certain sense of humor to see comedy in lines like; "A good addiction takes the guesswork out of death. There is such a way as planning your getaway." Luckily, I think Rockwell and company just might be able to pull this one off. Gregg has long been a big fan of the book and has been pretty dedicated to making a feature film, combined with Rockwell's ability to play people just a little off center and I think it just might work. Choke will show at Sundance and is set for release in 2008.