Well, gosh.... Seems that the folks over at Jerry Bruckheimer Films wanted to let us know the lowdown on BLACKHAWK DOWN. The following is a brief bit about the script and the fact that Jerry wants us geeks to know that the film is being readied to be Simon West's next movie. There are some pretty damn HUGE spoilers in here though... including a couple of instances of mentioning a pair of characters that DIE. I really wish I hadn't read that, so I put it in your hands whether or not to read it as well. Also, this was sent in by a person working for Jerry, so as we do with all 'official opinions' we must take it with a grain of salt till we hear it from a regular source... ie till I read the script or someone else we know outside of the project. Here you go... and remember there are some SPOILERS below...
I read the April 6th posting on BLACKHAWK DOWN for JERRY BRUCKHEIMER FILMS. I wanted to let your readers know that I read the first draft of the screenplay and it is amazing. Mark Bowden, the reporter who first broke the story and later wrote the novel, turned in the adaptation.
The logline: The true account of a group of elite U.S. soldiers sent into Mogadishu, Somalia in 1993 to abduct several top lieutenants of a Somalian warlord as part of a strategy to quell the civil war tearing away at the country – a mission that went terribly awry due to poor coordination and underestimating the enemy, resulting in the U.S. Military’s single biggest firefight since Vietnam…
The film will be a character driven piece concentrating on those soldiers. The script is filled with human touches that put a face on this fateful day: battle-hardened vet GRIZ writing a children’s book and coming up with the idea for the ending just as he’s dying from his wounds… rookie RANGER STEBINS bringing Smith his guitar from overseas only to watch Smith die in battle… SNOWDEN taking care of a litter of kittens in the barricks… the soldiers forced to kill a Somali mother with a baby in her arms when she pulls out a gun and shoots at them. The script is heart wrenching...very emotional...and I know that Jerry intends to keep it character driven. He says for me to tell you not to worry.
We are currently in re-writes on the script. Jerry wants to ready it to be Simon West's (CON AIR, GENERAL'S DAUGHTER) next movie.
