Gritty action maestro and shaky-cam aficionado Paul Greengrass is no stranger to gripping thrillers based on real-life events. His brutally realistic retelling of the United 93 hijacking during 9/11, appropriately titled “United 93,” didn’t make much of a splash at the box-office in 2006, perhaps because it did too good of a job recreating the tragedy surrounding the event, and audiences weren’t ready to be emotionally devastated as such a mere five years after the Twin Towers fell.
Even though its authenticity has been called into question by people who lived through the actual hijacking it was based on, last year’s Somalian pirate hostage drama “Captain Phillips” was a gripping ride with a powerhouse performance by Tom Hanks. And let’s not forget 2002’s excellent “Bloody Sunday,” about the 1972 massacre of Irish protestors by British troops.
Greengrass is ready to helm another thriller based on real events, as he’s slated to direct “The Tunnels,” the true story of a group of West Germans struggling to get their loved ones out of East Germany with the help of American news networks. The film will be based on a yet-to-be-written book by “The Campaign of The Century” writer Greg Mitchell. Film Nation Entertainment, who will produce “The Tunnels”, acquired the film rights off of Mitchell’s book proposal. When cameras might roll —before or after Greengrass’ brewing ‘Bourne’ outing with Matt Damon — is as yet unknown.
However, if you’re impatient to see any dramatization of this story, a 2001 German feature titled “Der Tunnel”, briefly released Stateside in 2005, is available on DVD. Watch the trailer below.
