Clint Eastwood is to direct and produce a biopic about pilot Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger.
The Oscar-winning filmmaker will follow his box office sensation American Sniper with a drama about the US Airways pilot, who made headlines when he safely landed a plane in the Hudson River in New York in 2009 after its engines failed.
“I am very glad my story is in the hands of gifted storyteller and filmmaker Clint Eastwood,” Sullenberger said in a statement.
The as-yet-untitled Warner Bros film – Clint’s first film since American Sniper – will be adapted from the pilot’s 2009 memoir, Highest Duty: My Search For What Really Matters, which chronicles his personal history before he made history.
Greg Silverman, president of creative development and worldwide production at Warner Bros, said: “Simply put, Clint Eastwood is at the top of his game, not to mention a global treasure. On the heels of his extraordinary work in American Sniper, it is tremendously exciting to see him explore another captivating true-life hero.”
American Sniper, which starred Bradley Cooper as the late Navy SEAL and marksman Chris Kyle, was nominated for six Oscars, although it only won one for sound editing.
It was the highest-grossing film of 2014 in the US, with box office takings of 543.4 million US dollars (around £355,753,452) worldwide.
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