Participant, Focus plan 'Attack'
Skoll's company in talks to board pic
Project is an adaptation of Algerian writer Yasmina Khadra’s book about an affluent Palestinian doctor working in an Israeli hospital whose life is turned upside down when he discovers his wife may have become a suicide bomber.
Lebanese helmer Ziad Doueiri is attached to direct the hot-button issue pic.
Doueiri has also written the script, which he has been developing with Focus for several months. Focus chiefs are said to be keen to move forward with the project, despite its politically sensitive subject matter.
“The Attack” would not be Participant’s first foray into the Middle East.
The company financed Stephen Gaghan’s “Syriana,” starring George Clooney and Matt Damon, which looked at the links between the oil industry, terrorism and U.S. foreign policy in the region.
Last September, Participant inked a $250 million production deal with Abu Dhabi’s $1 billion production arm Imagenation to finance 15-18 features.
It is yet to be decided if Participant’s involvement in “The Attack” would come via their Imagenation fund or through the main production division.
