I'm surprised it took them this long:
Paramount Pictures will finance and distribute an untitled feature about the rescue of two Port Authority police officers from the rubble of the World Trade Center after the 9/11 attacks. Oliver Stone will direct the film and Nicolas Cage will star. Andrea Berloff, who recently signed to pen Par's remake of "Don't Look Now," has written the script reports Variety.
The timetable of the feature isn't clear, but the Stone project is on a fast track with pre-production already started in New York. It ain't the only film on the subject moving forward though, Columbia Pictures has already received a first script draft by Billy Ray ("Shattered Glass") for an adaptation of Jim Dwyer-Kevin Flynn book "102 Minutes". 'Minutes' addresses the rescue attempts that took place between the moment the first plane hit the World Trade Center and the collapse of the first tower.
Yeah, Oliver "Too Many Movies" Stone is just the guy I trust to make a reasonable and accurate film about the WTC attacks. Maybe we'll get some insight into the Nicolas Cage character's mommy issues.
Having said that, I'm not sure where they can go with something like this. The entire country watched the towers collapse in real-time, with endless replays, meaning a big F/X extravaganza will be pretty much out of the question (not to mention tasteless), while the smaller story they seem to be pursuing will come across as exploitative. I'm not Stone's biggest fan, but the guy's got an uphill battle making a movie that people aren't going to hate, sight unseen.
On top of all this, ABC and producer Marc Platt are mobilizing a multipart film, written by Cyrus Nowrasteh. The movement on the project comes at strange timing, hitting the news services just hours after apparent terrorist attacks shut down the public transportation system of central London killing several dozen people.
I assume the stories were already in the pipeline when the London bombings occurred. If not, well, Hollywood's all about class.
Badmouthing Oliver Stone is always great. But Platoon was pretty good
Holy crap! And I thought Titanic was shamelessly and distastefully exploitive!
I just can't get into the idea of a 9/11 movie. My best friend was on a plane to Florida when the twin towers were hit. My dad was in D.C., and my uncle was on the 66th floor of the second tower hit (north? south?). He got out in time, but he still has nightmares. I can't imagine wanting to pay money to watch that all over again. Weird.
P.S. I have to miss the APCB Beerfest! My family has a reunion in New Braunfels this weekend and I completely forgot about it. So you have to promise me that there will be another shindig soon. :)