Adding to my posts on upcoming Iraq war movies Home of The Brave and The War Tapes, here are additional projects (all Hollywood) in the works:
Pitch: Saving Private Ryan meets Apollo 13, desert-style.
The synopsis for Last Man Home, to be directed by Ron Howard and produced by Brian Grazer, has a distinctly familiar feel:
Set in the days just before President George W. Bush launched full-scale war in 2003, story revolves around a covert U.S. military unit that is on the hunt for an AWOL American soldier in Iraq. The soldier is looking for his brother, who went missing when fighting in the first Gulf War.
My tentative prediction: they find him.
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Pitch: Tom Clancy meets Blackhawk Down, desert-style.
Battle For Fallujah, based on Bing West’s book, No True Glory : A Frontline Account of the Battle for Fallujah, is in production, starring Harrison Ford. Says Filmforce.com,
Ford is attached to portray Maj. Gen. James N. Mattis, then commanding general of the 1st Marine Division, who led the U.S. assault on Fallujah following the gruesome slayings of four American contractors in March 2004.
Although I’ll always love the swashbuckling and charming Ford of Star Wars and Indiana Jones days, his more patriotic hero roles (Jack Ryan, President Marshall) have always fallen short for me. I find the roles too reliant on the stoic, wry Western hero archetype, usually lacking any sort of nuance that might suggest a more complex understanding of right and wrong.
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Pitch: Boys Don’t Cry-toned drama meets TRL, desert-style??? Or maybe Jarhead meets controversial gov’t statute???
Ok, not sure which way Stop-Loss is going to go. Directed by Kimberly Pierce of Boys Don’t Cry fame, the film, according to IonCinema
is about the controversial statute now used by the U.S. Defense Dept. to extend soldiers' combat time. The story follows a soldier who returns home to Texas from Iraq but is then recalled with the "stop-loss" procedure. The pic's protagonist refuses to return to battle.
The twist: they have just signed Justin Timberlake to the lead role. According to the Virgin’s movie news site, Timberlake’s character
ends up being tempted back into service in Iraq when his best friend gets taken hostage. Timberlake signed the deal in Texas last Thursday after convincing producers he would be able to bulk up to fit the role.
Who knows what to expect? A nuanced story about the stop-loss controversy? A cheesy pop soundtrack? Maybe Stop-Loss will be for Justin what Brokeback is to Heath/Jake or Monster to Charlize...Alls I can say is that it’s hard for me to watch Justin without remembering his whiny reaction to getting Punk’d. I think he's going to need to do more than just "bulk up" to play a convincing soldier.
