Producers George Clooney and Grant Heslov are staying political. And they want Ben Affleck to jump on the bandwagon, taking onthe poly-thriller Argo. As director. The duo has picked up the rights to the Wired magazine article “How the CIA Used a Fake Sci-Fi Flick to Rescue Americans from Tehran,” written by Joshuah Bearman and published in April 2007, from which the film is based.
The article tells the story of the CIA’s attempt to rescue the six U.S. diplomats trapped in their embassy after Iranians took it over in 1979. The operatives disguised the six diplomats as a movie crew scouting locations for a fictional film called Argo.
Comics legend Jack Kirby provided sketches and designs for the fictional film in order to make it more real. The plan worked and the diplomats were returned home safely. Chris Terrio wrote the script for the hopefully soon-to-be real movie, which is apparently a drama with slices of comedy throughout. It sounds right up Clooney’s alley, and it’ll be interesting to see Affleck take on a film with some political heft. [THR]
What do you think of this news? Will Argo get off the ground?