CON AIR director takes up the THUNDER RUN

Simon West, the man who read Mark Bowden's novel BLACK HAWK DOWN and then pitched the idea of adapting it as a live-action film to Jerry Bruckheimer, is at it again with a modern warfare book... although this time he is set to direct it. The book is THUNDER RUN: THE ARMORED STRIKE TO CAPTURE BAGHDAD by author David Zucchino, and it chronicles the pivotal moments of the April 2003 Iraq war and as the title suggests the capturing of Baghdad. The author of the book was from the Army's 101st Airbone Division but found himself accidently switched to the 2nd Brigade of the 3rd Infantry Division and taking part of what is known as a "thunder run". In what is an extraordinary moment in urban warfare, less than 1,000 troops captured a city of 5 million Iraqi's in one single military push into the city. The book is said to be terrific and you can read a long account of the events from the author by clicking here. Despite deciding not to helm BLACK HAWK DOWN and letting Ridley Scott take the director's chair (which resulted in a superb movie by the way if you haven't seen it), West will helm this one. He has directed several films which include CON AIR, THE GENERAL'S DAUGHTER, LARA CROFT: TOMB RAIDER and most recently the remake of WHEN A STRANGER CALLS. Four forgettable movies, but the source material of those above were never as rich as this. A pivotal moment in the Iraq war to be brought to the big screen, is West up to the job or should he have once again left it in the hands of a more accomplished director?