By Matthew Sheffield | March 13, 2006 5:48 PM EST
Fresh from winning an Oscar for his movie "Crash," director Paul Haggis is looking to produce and direct a movie based on the memoirs of Richard Clarke, the disgruntled former anti-terrorism official who accuses the Bush Administration of botching the war on terrorism.
Reuters reporter Tatiana Siegel has the story. Notably missing is when the expected release date for the picture will be. Anyone willing to bet against a summer of 2008 launch?
Hot off his best picture win for "Crash," Paul Haggis is in final negotiations to direct and produce "Against All Enemies," a project based on Richard A. Clarke's best-selling memoir chronicling the Bush administration's handling of terrorist threats. Clarke, a former U.S. terrorism czar, offers the ultimate insider's account into the nation's security apparatus, featuring a cast of power brokers that includes President Bush, Condoleezza Rice, Donald Rumsfeld and himself. The book was published by Free Press in March 2004 and hit No. 1 on the New York Times best-seller list, fueling intense criticism over the administration's security failures and its decision to go to war with Iraq. It is unclear whether Haggis will tackle Columbia Pictures' hot-button political drama next or sandwich in another directing project first. Either way, he will initially supervise scribe James Vanderbilt ("The Rundown"), who is penning a second draft of "Enemies." Haggis is currently writing "Death and Dishonor" for Warner Bros. Pictures, which he is attached to direct.Hat tip: Riehl World View.