MTV.com (www.mtv.com) has issued the following report from Chris Harris and Jon Wiederhorn:

QUEENSRŸCHE's 1988 conceptual masterpiece, Operation: Mindcrime, will be getting the big-screen treatment, according to frontman Geoff Tate. He said the band has hired a screenwriter to adapt the LP into a feature film, and that they're in the midst of shopping it to Hollywood studios.

"I worked over the last year and a half with a Hollywood screenwriter named Mark Shepherd," Tate said. "He developed a screenplay out of the story. It's incredible; I hope that it can be made into a movie soon. Our agency is shopping it around Hollywood. I think it's going to be an incredibly powerful film. It starts with one part, and then we have plans for a sequel as well."

The band's latest disc, Operation: Mindcrime II, hit stores this week.

As previously reported, Hits Daily Double (www.hitsdailydouble.com) report that according to first-day reports from retailers across the U.S., Operation: Mindcrime II album is expected to land in the teens of low twenties on next week's album charts. The album is tapped to shift between 40,000 and 50,000 copies in it's first week.

Operation: Mindcrime II was released on April 4th by Rhino. The album features the following tracklisting: 'Freiheit Ouvertüre' (the infamous intro fans have been chattering about) and 'Convict'. The tracklist is now as follows: 'Freiheit Ouvertüre', 'Convict', 'I'm American', 'One Foot In Hell', 'Hostage', 'The Hands', 'Speed Of Light', 'Signs Say Go (Will I Surrender?)', 'Re-Arrange You', 'The Chase', 'Murderer?', 'Circles', 'If I Could Change It All', 'An Intentional Confrontation', 'A Junkie's Blues (Everything Will Be Alright)', 'Fear City Slide', 'All The Promises'.

In related news, it has been revealed that the vinyl version of Operation: Mindcrime II will be available on April 11th (details to follow).