Actors Armie Hammer and Dev Patel are in negotiations to join Hotel Mumbai, a drama film centering around the 2008 terrorist attacks on the Taj Mahal hotel in Mumbai. The screenplay, written by John Collee and Anthony Maras, was inspired by the documentary Surviving Mumbai, which told the story of the 68 hours in which hundreds of people were held hostage by armed Pakistani militants amidst the destruction of the hotel.
Also in negotiations are Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Game of Thrones), Anupam Kher (Silver Linings Playbook), Kunal Nayyar (The Big Bang Theory), Teresa Palmer (The Choice), and Nazanin Boniadi (Homeland). Hotel Mumbai is set to go into production this August in India and Australia, with Anthony Maras set to direct the project.
Interestingly, a separate group of studios — StudioCanal and Kudos Film and TV — are creating a feature centering around the Mumbai attacks as well. That film will be adapted from “The Siege: 68 Hours Inside The Taj Hotel,” a book by Adrian Levy and Cathy Scott-Clark which recounted the hours spent in the Hotel while it was under attack, and the 31 who didn’t make it out alive. Justin Kurzel (the upcoming Assassins’ Creed adaptation) will direct and Anthony McCarten (The Theory of Everything) has been given screenwriting duties.
No word was yet given regarding the roles Hammer and Patel could potentially play in the real-life drama film, but a general 2017 release is expected for Maras’ Hotel Mumbai.
