Bio-Pic Planned About NFL Player Turned Soldier Pat Tillman

Variety is reporting that despite the repeated shaking of the collective head of the moviegoing public to Iraq War movies, Hollywood is planning not one, not two, but three films that deal directly with the war: An adaptation of The Long Road Home by ABC White House correspondent Martha Raddatz, the life story of former Halliburton contractor Janet Leigh Jones (who claimed she was drugged gang-raped by co-workers then locked in a shipping container for reporting the crime), and a bio-pic of the life of Pat Tillman.

Tillman was an NFL player who left the league and millions of dollars behind to fight in the war, ultimately succumbing to friendly fire.

For the Tillman film, Variety indicates that "studios are also showing keen interest in The Hero, a book...that Into the Wild author Jon Krakauer will deliver next month for publication by Doubleday in the fall."

"Clearly, the time is not now," said Phoenix Films head Mike Medavoy of the commercial failure of similar Iraq War films. "But you don't shy away from a great story, either. Read this book and see if you don't cry," he declared, referring to The Long Road Home.

"You see the futility of the whole enterprise, but you are engaged on human and not geopolitical terms. My sense is it's better to be patient, get it right and make sure that enough time has elapsed so that people will be receptive."

Of the three, I believe the film about Pat Tillman has the most universal appeal. A gang-rape movie and a war movie will be a significantly tougher sell than the story of a guy who gave up fame to fight for a cause he believed in and was ultimately a victim of that same cause.