By Michael Fleming

NEW YORK (Variety) - ``Pearl Harbor'' director Michael Bay is pumped to shoot ``Pain and Gain,'' a dark film about steroid-abusing bodybuilders who engage in a campaign of kidnapping, extortion and murder in Florida.

The project will mark Bay's first for Paramount Pictures, which optioned a series of investigative articles written by Pete Collins for the Miami New Times about the Sun Gym gang. Much as they used steroids as a shortcut to rippling pecs and six-pack abs, the gang used crime as a shortcut to the high life of fast cars, flashy clothes and strippers.

``I had been looking for a movie with the tone of 'Fargo' for a long time, and even though this is violent, this story has that potential,'' said Bay, who also wanted to make a film with a modest budget after directing only expensive action films, such as ``The Rock'' and ``Armageddon.''

``These guys are knuckleheads who get away with doing very bad things and committing very violent acts. They were greed-obsessed muscleheads who could never be happy with what they had, always wanting more,'' Bay added.

The gang ringleaders seem a mix between the ``Fargo'' characters and ``Saturday Night Live'' duo Hans and Franz. The Sun Gym gang got away with increasingly bolder crimes, even though they were bumblers who left a trail like a caterpillar. The gang finally got caught after murdering a couple, only to discover they hadn't properly fleeced their assets and murdered them for nothing.

Bay will likely direct a film before ``Pain and Gain. Possibilities include a ``Bad Boys'' sequel and the Warner Bros. project ``I Am Legend,'' starring Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Bay will produce ``Pain and Gain'' with former Disney exec Donald De Line, who has a first-look deal at Paramount.