Wednesday, October 9, 2024

Exclusive: Story About Real bin Laden “Shooter”: Film Deal In the Works

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“SealTeam Six” and “Zero Dark Thirty” each told different perspectives on the killing of Osama bin Laden. Now I am told by sources that there is a film deal moving forward for Phil Bronstein’s cover story in Esquire about the man directly responsible for ridding the world of Osama bin Laden. The saga of the unidentified shooter– the man who actually carried out the killing of bin Laden–has made headlines.

In Esquire, “The Shooter”– one of the famed Navy Seal Team Six– claims that he returned to the US to find he would have no insurance or other benefits. This was in part due to his own early retirement. His real name is not revealed.

But the story took off like wildfire. My sources say a production company called Zulu 7 have secured the rights to Bronstein’s work. They’ve also signed the rights to the life story of  The Shooter himself. The Shooter can’t be reached, and the Zulu 7 principals– Paul Bernard and “A.K. Waters”–declined comment. Interestingly, Waters may be a pseudonym for someone with deep background connections. “AK Waters” was the name of Bruce Willis’s Special Ops commander in the 2003 film “Tears of the Sun.”

If the saga of “The Shooter” goes into acceptable script form, you can only imagine the directors and actors fighting to make this movie. So stay tuned. “Zero Dark Thirty” has been a hit at the box office with a female protagonist. But “The Shooter” will be quite a different story– and more poignant as it will flesh out a backstory for this man and his family.

Who should play the Shooter? Willis himself maybe? Woody Harrelson? Jeremy Renner? Justin Bieber?

Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman began his Showbiz411 column in April 2009 after 10 years with Fox News, where he created the Fox411 column. His movie reviews are carried by Rotten Tomatoes, and he is a member of both the movie and TV branches of the Critics Choice Awards. His articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. He is also the writer and co-producer of "Only the Strong Survive," a selection of the Cannes, Sundance, and Telluride Film festivals, directed by DA Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus.

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