Col books war pic
Afghanistan tome optioned for Neufeld
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Stanton's as yet untitled book concerns the battle for control of the Afghan city of Mazar-i-Sharif and the uprising at Qala-i-Jhangi Prison. It will serve as background for a project Neufeld is developing with thesp James Cromwell on the conquest of the Afghan city by Northern Alliance forces, led by 12 U.S. Special Ops soldiers. Cromwell is expected to exec produce.
It's somewhat unusual for a book to be optioned in order to be folded into a project that's already under development. But describing Stanton's tome as "an exhaustive study of the war from the beginning to the end," Neufeld noted, "We thought there was material we could use."
Should the film go into production, Stanton's deal would approach high six figures.
Neufeld called the story "the first great cavalry charge of the 21st century," likening the project to "Lawrence of Arabia" and "Blackhawk Down."
Neufeld is in talks with Phillip Noyce to helm the pic and is hoping to move into pre-production in six months, though he has yet to announce a screenwriter for the project. Mindful of the unstable political climate abroad, Neufeld said he plans to shoot the pic in the American Southwest, though he has secured the cooperation of the Afghan ambassador to the U.S.
Stanton, who previously wrote "In Harm's Way: The Sinking of the U.S.S. Indianapolis and the Extraordinary Story of its Survivors," a major bestseller for Henry Holt, has sold his "Mazar-i-Sharif" proposal to Little, Brown via his reps at ICM.
The project is being developed at Columbia Pictures by exec VP of production Matt Tolmach and VP of production Rachel O'Connor, reporting to production prexy Peter Schlessel.
