No, it won’t be a remake of Roland Joffé‘s 1986 film starring Robert De Niro. Deadline reports that Warner Bros. is looking at director David O. Russell to helm a Colombian hostage drama titled The Mission. Based on the “methodical six-year mission planned by American and Colombian covert operatives to free 15 hostages from the Colombian jungle,” the studio also wants Brad Pitt to lead.
Peter Landesman, whose article The Girls Next Door was the basis for the sex trafficking film Trade, has written the script that follows the group of hostages including three Americans and Ingrid Betancourt, a “candidate for President of Colombia.” Being taken hostage between six and fifteen years, the group had rough conditions as they were transported around the jungle.
Mike Fleming reports that this period won’t be the main focus of the film, but “rather on Operacion Jaque, a covert effort involved numerous governments, diplomats and intelligence services and a vast network of spies, military advisers and soldiers plus high-tech surveillance measures.”
It also seems silly to connect O. Russell to yet another project after the countless he has been attached to since his return with The Fighter. It is reported that a re-team with his star of that Oscar player, The Silver Linings Playbook with Mark Wahlberg, is high on his priority as well. Brad Pitt has a long London shoot for World War Z, so this may fall apart, but it is interested considering the actor’s involvement in an earlier version of The Fighter. Stay tuned for updates.
Would you want to see a story like this with the talent mentioned?