Lawrence O'Neil, the helmer behind "Throwing Down," the film that won the grand prize at the Hamptons Film Festival last year, has inked a deal to helm "Silicone Wars" (also known as "Breast Men") for HBO Pictures.
The film deals with the two doctors who, in the 1960s, created the silicone breast implant. The doctors go on to achieve great wealth and notoriety, but the pair subsequently fight over money, royalties and copyrights, and eventually split up after a fight on national TV. The story follows their constant bickering until the silicone implants scare of the '90s questions the safety of the invention altogether.
Driven to the brink of bankruptcy by the break-up, one of the doctors regains his fortune by fulfilling the breast implant demands of the entertainment industry.
Pic is based on an article that appeared in the Texas Monthly, "Silicone City" written by Mimi Swartz.
Casting has not been set, but HBO is in talks to cast the two leads. Guy Reidel will produce with Gary Lucchesi taking on exec-producing chores. Pic is slated to begin production March 31.
Ellen Collett and Matt Prager are the HBO execs overseeing the project.
O'Neil, who most recently did a rewrite on the psychological thriller "Drastic Measures" for Warner Bros., wrote and directed the low-budget "Throwing Down," a tale of two New York con men in over their heads in the deep South.
Following "Silicone Wars," the New York native plans to shop around a crime/horror film based on his original script.
O'Neil was repped on the deal by International Creative Management's Robert Newman and his attorney John Sloss of Sloss Law Office.
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