No Escape’s John Erick and Drew Dowdle will take on a Six Minutes to Freedom movie
Marc Butan’s MadRiver Pictures has tapped John Erick Dowdle and Drew Dowdle to write and John Erick Dowdle to direct a Six Minutes to Freedom movie, based on the novel by John Gilstrap. Marc Butan, Drew Dowdle, Sam Franco, and Laura Bickford are producing. Ed Fee will be executive producing
The Six Minutes to Freedom movie aims to offer a riveting action thriller based on the true story of American Kurt Muse, who, in 1989 was imprisoned for broadcasting a pirate radio station that propagated dissent against Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega, and the saga of his rescue from prison by the US Delta Force. Muse is the first and only American civilian rescued by the elite special force.
“When I first found out about Kurt’s remarkable story, I was shocked that no one had yet written a book about it,” Gilstrap says on his official site. “It’s the perfect real-life thriller. It’s got a team of patriots who suffer unspeakable hardships for their ideals, it’s got one of the great villains of the modern era in mass murderer Manuel Noriega, and it’s got a family that is devoted not just to each other, but to a cause higher than themselves. Finally, it’s got a kick-ass third act that delivers a happy ending at Christmastime. I’ve always believed that this is a story that America needs to see on the big screen. More than that, it’s a story that they need to take into their hearts.”
In addition to the recent No Escape, starring Owen Wilson, Lake Bell and Pierce Brosnan, the Dowdles are well known for their work on As Above, So Below for Legendary Pictures as well as Devil for Universal Pictures and Quarantine for Screen Gems.
