Brian Grazer, who has been the man behind a ton of great projects including A Beautiful Mind and Cinderella Man, has recently jumped on a story that is a bit more serious and could require him to draw on his 24 background.
Grazer Goes to The School
I don't know what the new deal is with creating films based on tragic events that have only just come to past, but Universal Pictures is ready to take a harder look at the horrible actions by Chechan rebels that occurred over in Germany a couple years back.
According to Variety, Universal Pictures and Imagine Entertainment have acquired the film rights to The School, a C.J. Chivers article in Esquire's June issue about the siege of a Russian elementary school by heavily armed Chechen rebels.
Brian Grazer has been picked up to produce the adaptation.
Chivers, the Moscow correspondent for the New York Times, covered the ordeal as it unfolded over three days in 2004, ending with the deaths of about 300 of the 1,100 hostages; 31 terrorists also were killed.
Chivers returned to the town of Beslan 18 months later to interview the survivors, whose viewpoints give The School an emotional thrust and its movie potential. In a statement, Grazer said the article "captures for the first time the human aspect of a horrendous event." The story "cried out to be told on the bigscreen." He was en route to Cannes for the premiere of The Da Vinci Code and unavailable for further comment.
With a film like this we must ask ourselves the same question we asked when United 93 entered production -- are we ready?
Add to Heffee!
