BP Oil Spill Getting the Big Screen Treatment

Honestly, I'm surprised it took this long.  Yesterday, Summit Entertainment and Participant Media acquired the rights to the New York Times article Deepwater Horizon's Final Hour which chronicles the tragedy on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig that led to one of the largest environmental disasters our country has ever seen, the BP oil spill in the Gulf.  The article written by David Barstow, David Rohde, and Stephanie Saul was published on December 25, 2010 and immediately sought after by Hollywood.

According to the press release, the film adaptation will be written by Matthew Sand with an emphasis being placed on depicting "the courage of those who worked on the oil rig and the final minutes leading up to the disaster" rather than the aftermath.  Hit the jump to read the full press release and a link to the original article.

Here's the link to the fantastic article about the events that unfolded on April 20.  I highly recommend you read it if you haven't already.  As far as my thoughts on this project, it was really only a matter of time until someone took a crack at it.  I just hope those involved handle the story with tact as this event affected the lives of everyone in that region.

SUMMIT AND PARTICIPANT IN ASSOCIATION WITH IMAGENATION

ACQUIRE FEATURE FILM RIGHTS TO THE NEW YORK TIMES ARTICLE

“DEEPWATER HORIZON’S FINAL HOUR”

LOS ANGELES, CA  March 8, 2011 – Summit Entertainment and Participant Media, in association with Imagenation Abu Dhabi have acquired the feature film rights to The New York Times article titled “Deepwater Horizon’s Final Hour” published December 25, 2010 written by David Barstow, David Rohde, and Stephanie Saul. A planned filmed adaptation of the article will depict the courage of those who worked on the oil rig and the final minutes leading up to the disaster that ultimately led to great devastation that will forever be remembered.

The film will be written by Matthew Sand.  It will be developed by Summit Entertainment and Participant Media in association with Imagenation Abu Dhabi, and it is expected to be co-financed by Summit and Participant Media/Imagenation Abu Dhabi.  Summit is negotiating with Lorenzo Di Bonaventura (RED, SALT, TRANSFORMERS) to produce the project via his Di Bonaventura Pictures banner.

Summit’s President of Production, Erik Feig, stated, “This film will portray the great heroism that took place last year on the Deepwater Horizon rig and how colleagues so courageously came to each other’s aide.  This piece in The New York Times evoked the raw emotion these brave men experienced and endured throughout the tragedy that took place in April of last year and we hope to evoke the same emotions for our audience with this movie.”

Ricky Strauss, President of Participant Media, added, “This is a perfect fit for us–a suspenseful and inspiring real-life account of everyday people whose values are tested in the face of an impending environmental disaster.”

Michael Garin, CEO Imagenation Abu Dhabi, said, “Our partnership with Participant Media, and by extension Summit, continues to generate movies which raise awareness of issues and inspire social change.  This powerful account truly represents the ideal aims of storytelling, where the search for the truth uncovers everyday heroism in the face of adversity, and so is destined to be an important film appealing to international audiences all over the world.”

Sand has written the screenplays for several upcoming projects including AMERICAN BY BLOOD, THE SUMMONER, THE RED STAR and BROTHERS IN ARMS.

Feig along with Summit Entertainment’s Senior Vice President of Production, Geoff Shaevitz, are overseeing the project for the studio.  Strauss and Participant’s Executive Vice President of Production, Jonathan King, are overseeing for Participant.

ICM represents The New York Times and packaged the project.  Sand is represented by ICM, Circle of Confusion, and Gang, Tyre, Ramer and Brown.

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