With Angelina Jolie‘s personal life taking up plenty of tabloid space and media time at the moment, sometimes the best defence is a good offence. In other other words, give outlets something else to talk about. And that’s just what Jolie is doing heading into the weekend.
Deadline reports that the actress is in early talks to star in “Shoot Like A Girl.” Frank Baldwin has penned the script, based on the upcoming memoir “Shoot Like A Girl: One Woman’s Dramatic Fight In Afghanistan and on the Home Front” by Air Force Major Mary Jennings Hegar, that tells the true story of the author’s three tours in Afghanistan which saw her win the Purple Heart and become the sixth woman to receive the Distinguished Flying Cross. Here’s the book synopsis:
After being commissioned into the U.S. Air Force, MJ Hegar was selected for pilot training by the Air National Guard, finished at the top of her class, then served three tours in Afghanistan, flying combat search-and-rescue missions, culminating in a harrowing rescue attempt that would earn MJ the Purple Heart as well as the Distinguished Flying Cross with Valor Device.
But it was on American soil that Hegar would embark on her greatest challenge—to eliminate the military’s Ground Combat Exclusion Policy, which kept female armed service members from officially serving in combat roles despite their long-standing record of doing so with honor.
In Shoot Like a Girl, MJ takes the reader on a dramatic journey through her military career: an inspiring, humorous, and thrilling true story of a brave, high-spirited, and unforgettable woman who has spent much of her life ready to sacrifice everything for her country, her fellow man, and her sense of justice.
The plan right now is to lock down the contract for Jolie, and then fast-track “Shoot Like A Girl” and find a director. This certainly sounds much more Jolie’s speed than “Murder On The Orient Express,” and it’ll be interesting to see if this can come together fast enough to be released next year.