It was only a matter of time before one of the studios got around to using the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in April 2010 as source material for a movie. Summit is the one to go there, having started work on the film last year and now entering negotiations with Ric Roman Waugh to direct a film about the rig’s disastrous end.
Matthew Sand is crafting the script based on a New York Times article called Deepwater Horizon’s Final Moments written by David Barstow, David Rhode and Stephanie Saul.
Pledging that the focus will be on the heroism of those who tried to deal with the explosion and subsequent fire / oil spill, Summit has revealed Deepwater Horizon will also explore exactly what went wrong, and how it all left 11 men dead and 17 more injured, not to mention the enormous environmental impact.
Lorenzo Di Bonaventura is set to produce, and it will be his and, assuming he makes a deal, Waugh’s task to ensure that this one stays within the boundaries of good taste, given that it arguably still feels a little soon to be turning the crisis into a drama.
Waugh is currently finishing up work on action thriller Snitch, which stars Dwayne Johnson and Susan Sarandon.