Jackson braves Iraq
Thesp to star in Winkler's war pic
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Story, from a screenplay by Mark Friedman, revolves around three soldiers who struggle to readjust to normal life after returning home from a lengthy tour in Iraq. Jackson will play a doctor who tries to resume his routine, only to find himself unraveling.
Financed by Avi Lerner's Millennium Films and Emmett/Furla, indie pic is budgeted at $12 million. Winkler will begin shooting next month in Morocco. Production will then move to Spokane, Wash.
Jessica Biel, Christina Ricci and Brian Presley also are set to star in the feature, while Curtis "50 Cent" Johnson is in final negotiations.
Winkler and Rob Cowan, prexy of Winkler Films, came up with the idea for "Home" nearly two years ago, but it has taken until now to secure the necessary financing. They took the project to various studios but couldn't raise any coin. Winkler is confident that the pic will nab a distributor.
"It's a subject we read about but certainly haven't dramatized very much," Winkler told Daily Variety. "There is a reluctance on the part of the studios to market and distribute this kind of film because it's drama, it's original and it's not a remake."
Along with Winkler and Cowan, producers are Randall Emmett and George Furla. Lerner, Danny Dimbort, Boaz Davidson, John Thompson and Michael Flannigan are exec producing. Project was brought to Emmett/Furla from co-exec producer Mercy Santos and David Feldman.
Thus far, few in Hollywood have been willing to tackle the ongoing war in Iraq on the bigscreen.
Paramount recently greenlit helmer Kimberly Peirce's "Stop-Loss," which is about a soldier who refuses to return to Iraq and fight. Last year's "Jarhead" centered on the first Gulf War.
Jackson stars later this month in helmer Joe Roth's "Freedomland," from Revolution Studios and Sony. He also is set to star in New Line's "Snakes on a Plane."
