Just when you thought the Iraq war films were over an intriguing one continues to bubble to the surface as Paul Greengrass has just added Amy Ryan to his cast joining Matt Damon and Greg Kinnear. The film is currently labeled in the database as Untitled Paul Greengrass Iraq War Thriller, which makes me wonder, with the failure of The Kingdom and Lions for Lambs to make huge box-office dents, is it worth making a film like this right now regardless of quality? Personally I can’t wait to see this one already, but what about the general public?
The film itself is is inspired by Rajiv Chandrasekaran’s nonfiction book “Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq’s Green Zone” and penned by Greengrass and Brian Helgeland.
The fictional thriller is set in the “Green Zone,” a walled and fortified area where U.S. troops stay during the Iraq occupation. There, critics say, flawed decisions are made because leaders are separated from the realities of life in war-torn Iraq.
Damon plays an officer who teams with a senior CIA officer to search for evidence of weapons of mass destruction. Ryan will play a New York Times foreign correspondent sent to Iraq to investigate the U.S. government’s WMD claims. Kinnear plays another CIA officer. Antoni Corone has been cast as a colonel.
Universal Pictures is distributing the flick and shooting begins today in Spain with a 2009 release date assumed.
If you were wondering who Amy Ryan is, don’t worry, she is only the frontrunner to win the Supporting Actress Oscar for her performance in Gone Baby Gone. She will also be seen in Clint Eastwood’s The Changeling later this year.
