Last July, the 19 members of the Prescott Fire Department’s elite firefighter squad, called the Granite Mountain Hotshots, lost their lives battling an Arizona wildfire that ended up consuming over 8,000 acres. Only one crew member of the Hotshots survived, and the tragedy became the largest loss of firefighters since 9/11 and the greatest loss of wild-land firefighters in 80 years.
According to Deadline, Crazy Heart and Out of the Furnace writer and director Scott Cooper will helm a film about their tragic story. Black Hawk Down scribe Ken Nolan is on scripting duties and Lorenzo di Bonaventura is attached as producer.
The filmmakers are trying to stick as close the real life events as possible, and are already consulting with the family members and loved ones of the firefighters. In a statement about the film, Cooper said:
“The heroic and tragic story of the men who gave their lives to protect the community of Yarnell is heartbreaking, compelling, and inspiring. I look forward to telling their story with the respect, sensitivity, and authenticity that these true American heroes deserve.”
On the other hand, di Bonaventura explained their approach to the story in greater detail, saying:
“The nation came together to mourn the great loss of life by these heroes, but their bonds with each other makes their story so much more extraordinary and compelling. The story of the Granite Mountain Hotshots, and the tragedy that befell them, is not as much about the fire as it is about a group of blue-collar guys and their families and the brotherhood that they form with one another.”
Right now, Cooper is hard at work on his Whitey Bolger biopic Black Mass starring Johnny Depp and Joel Edgerton, which is due to hit theaters in October 2015. While no official statement was given, he will likely jump into directing the Granite Mountain Hotshots film once that is complete.
