Images from the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings are still seared into the hearts and minds of people around the world, and so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that multiple film projects about the terrorist attack are in the works. Today, Manglehorn director David Gordon Green has signed on to helm one such pic, titled Stronger and set to focus on Jeff Bauman, who lost both legs in the attack.
Lionsgate is behind the inspirational true story, which is based on the autobiographical book Bauman co-wrote with Bret Whitter.
Bauman was at the finish line of the marathon on April 15, 2013, waiting for his girlfriend to finish the annual race, when he was caught in the blast from a pressure cooker bomb left at the crowded event by terrorists Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. The explosion took both his legs. When he awoke in a nearby hospital, Bauman was able to identify one of the bombers to authorities, aiding in a massive manhunt that concluded with one brother dead and the other in custody. Stronger charts Bauman’s harrowing ordeal and also addresses his attempts at rehabilitation in the months following the bombing.
John Pollono and Scott Silver wrote the script, and Silver is also producing alongside David Hoberman and Todd Lieberman in the same configuration that led Silver Linings Playbook to a Best Picture nomination.
Green is an unconventional choice to direct a ripped-from-the-headlines drama like this, but the helmer has proven himself to be nothing if not versatile. Over the years, he’s directed mumblecore indies (Prince Avalanche), raunchy comedies (Pineapple Express, Your Highness), political dramedies (Our Brand is Crisis) and just about everything in between.
Now that the helmer has been set for Stronger, the project will move forward fast in order to get ahead of competing Boston Marathon pics like Patriot’s Day (with Mark Wahlberg in the lead role) and Boston Strong (which recently lost director Daniel Espinosa).
