Film turns into setting for tragedy

THE FILM adaptation of an outer-borough detective novel turned into an uptown tragedy last night when an FDNY firefighter died fighting a blaze on the set.

The tragedy unfolded at a shoot for “Motherless Brooklyn,” based on the award-winning detective novel of the same name, directed by “Fight Club” actor Ed Norton.

The hardboiled detective novel tells the story of Lionel Essrog, played by Norton, a lonely private detective with Tourette’s Syndrome who is working to solve the murder of his friend and mentor Frank Minna, played by Bruce Willis.

The movie, nearly 20 years in the making, is being produced and directed by Norton, 48, who stars alongside actors Bobby Cannavale, Willem Dafoe and Alec Baldwin.

Filming of the Jonathan Lethem novel — which is set mostly in Carroll Gardens and Cobble Hill — started last month in various parts of the city, including Brooklyn Heights, Hamilton Heights and Greenwich Village.

Much of the filming was shot in the Harlem area, where the deadly fire broke out.

A defunct club in the fivestory building, built in 1920, was transformed into the “King Rooster Jazz Pub” for the movie. The crew had been working on the set for two weeks.