Wag the Dog + Hell House = new satire.

Variety reports:

Mandalay Independent Pictures has acquired screen rights to “Salvation Boulevard,” the upcoming mystery novel by Larry Beinhart. George Ratliff will write the script and direct. . . .

“Salvation Boulevard,” to be published in the fall by Nation Books, has a satirical bent targeting organized religion.

The story revolves around a private detective who investigates the killing of a professor. The exercise proves to be a clash of faiths: The detective is a born-again Christian, the dead man an atheist, the accused killer an Islamic foreign student and the D.A. is Jewish.

“The book uses a mystery to examine the religious process, the mega-churches and how they manipulate minds,” said Mandalay prexy Cathy Schulman. “It is tricky terrain, but George is a filmmaker with a distinguishable voice.

Beinhart previously wrote “American Hero,” which was adapted into the 1997 Hollywood-D.C. satire “Wag the Dog.”

Ratliff, who directed the thriller “Joshua,” covered the hard-line faith biz in the docu “Hell House.” . . .

Whoo-ee. I liked Hell House (2001) well enough, but I have not seen Joshua (2007), so I haven’t a clue what to expect.