U.S. production company Warner Bros. has acquired an untitled action thriller pitch about the
rescue of 15 hostages from the Colombian jungle last summer, Variety reported Wednesday.
The film will focus on Operacion Jaque, a five-year plan to locate
and rescue Ingrid Betancourt, three Americans and eleven Colombian policemen held captive by Colombian guerrilla group FARC. The covert effort involved numerous governments,
diplomats and intelligence services and a vast network of spies,
military advisers and soldiers plus high-tech surveillance measures.
WB becomes the second major studio to put a rescue film in development. Sony’s Screen Gems is working on “Operation Checkmate,” a drama being scripted by Jessica Postigo, with Simon Brand
to direct. Though fellow captive, Ingrid Betancourt, signed with French
lit agent Susanna Lea and CAA, she has not made a movie deal to date.
The
WB film will rely heavily on McLarty Associates as a resource. The
consulting group was involved in the entire operation, having been
hired by Northrop Grumman, which employed the three Americans.
