As Congress continues to convene hearings over the September 11, 2012 attack in Benghazi, Libya, HBO is poised to turn the attack into a telepic.
The Hollywood Reporter reports that HBO has optioned Fred Burton and Samuel M. Katz’s inside account of the attack in Benghazi “Under Fire: The Untold Story of the Attack in Benghazi.”
“I’m thrilled and excited that my next movie for HBO after “Behind the Candelabra” will be “Under Fire.” It is the only place I can imagine this tragic and emotionally gripping story being told,” Jerry Weintraub, slated to be the film’s executive producer, told THR.
According to the Amazon description of “Under Fire,” the book offers an insider’s account of the attack.
“Based on the exclusive cooperation of eyewitnesses and confidential sources within the intelligence, diplomatic, and military communities, Fred Burton and Samuel M. Katz reveal for the first time the terrifying twelve-hour ordeal confronted by Ambassador Christopher Stevens, Sean Smith, his Diplomatic Security (DS) contingent, and the CIA security specialists who raced to rescue them,” the description reads.
The September 11, 212 attacks on the American outposts in Libya resulted in the deaths of four Americans, including Stevens, Smith and and former Navy SEALs Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods.
In the year following the attack administration critics have accused the Obama administration of a cover-up and the administration has declared Benghazi a “phony scandal.”
Weintraub’s producing credits includes Robert Altman’s “Nashville,” beloved George Burns vehicle “Oh, God!,” blockbuster hit “The Karate Kid” and its 2010 remake, the popular 2001 remake of “Ocean’s Eleven” and many other films.