Recently, Ben Affleck's
Argo hits theaters. It's the latest film that's based on a real story that seems too good to be true. I mean, rescuing diplomats hiding out in Iran during the hostage crisis by creating a fake movie production? If anyone pitched this idea to a studio, they'd be laughed out of town. And yet it actually happened.
Argo was a real (fake) movie, a case of a wacky movie plan legitimately working. It warms my heart that story seemingly ready-made for the big screen treatment will finally reach a wider audience. But what other events are out there, ripe for adaptation? There are hundreds if not thousands of bizarre, unbelievable, or just plain awesome tales scattered throughout history. Here are just ten of them. Id gladly fork over money to see any one of these realized on the big screen. Rather than order them in any preference, I have listed them chronologically.
10. The Rise and Fall of the Catalan Company
We all love mercenaries. So the story of a company of fighters-for-hire who ended up creating their own state should have more than a little appeal, I think. The Catalan Company was a force of Iberian fighters organized in the 1300's by Roger de Flor, who seems like an almost archetypical scoundrel. The Company went to work for the Byzantine Empire, and then proceeded to pillage Byzantine villages while going about their work. De Flor was assassinated in 1305, but the Company persisted, and later carved out their own country, the Duchy of Neopatria, in Greece. The Duchy lasted for over seventy years before succumbing to forces both internal and external. There's potential for an epic tale of a company of men coming together, planting down a legacy, and then later that legacy all falling apart. Plus,
mercenaries.Source and
source.