Article 1....
http://www.empireonline.com/news/story.asp?NID=40913
Colin Firth Finds An Eye In The Sky
Gavin Hood will direct the drone thriller
30 April 2014 | Written by James White | Source: Deadline
Drones remain very much a hot topic and a source of drama for films that want that extra political edge. Now Eye In The Sky, a film about use of the unmanned weapons, has emerged from the depths of development h**l pulled by leading man and producer Colin Firth.
With Firth’s company Raindog Films working with Entertainment One to get the film made, Ender’s Game director Gavin Hood has come aboard to call the shots for the thriller. With a script from Guy Hibbert that was originally developed at BBC Films, Sky follows the complicated chain of authority that is firmly yanked when a new wrinkle enters a drone mission.
The focus is on a few characters involved, including military intelligence officer Colonel Michelle Madden, remotely commanding a drone operation to locate terrorists in Nairobi. When the team discovers that their targets are planning a suicide mission, the targets are marked for death instead. Then, just as pilot Steve Watts is set to destroy the safe house, he spots a nine-year-old girl entering the kill zone and must pass the request for confirmation of the next step up to the highest levels, including our own foreign secretary.
“The use of unmanned aircraft in modern warfare and in the so-called 'War on Terror’ poses critical questions for us all,” Firth says in a statement picked up by Deadline. “Raindog was launched with the hope of making challenging thoughtful films, and I’m pleased to be a part of an exploration into such a crucial issue.”
The story has been floating for a while, and in 2011, it looked like Downfall director Oliver Hirschbiegel might take it on. Now, however, Hood is in the director’s chair and Entertainment One will be offering the film to distributors at the upcoming Cannes film market.
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Aaron Paul, Helen Mirren Join Colin Firth in Thriller ‘Eye in the Sky’
Movies | By Jeff Sneider on May 16, 2014 @ 2:01 am
Oscar winner Helen Mirren and Emmy winner Aaron Paul are set to join Colin Firth in Gavin Hood‘s international thriller “Eye in the Sky,” it was announced Friday by Entertainment One and Raindog Films.
A contemporary international thriller set in the shadowy world of remotely piloted “drone” warfare, “Eye in the Sky” will find Mirren playing Col. Michelle Madden, a military intelligence officer in command of a top secret drone operation. Paul will star as an American drone pilot, while Firth will co-star as a British government official.
Firth and Ged Doherty are producing through their Raindog Films banner along with Xavier Marchand, who will oversee production for eOne in collaboration with Benedict Carver.
Written by Guy Hibbert, “Eye in the Sky” is a tense morality tale that follows London-based Madden (Mirren), who's set to remotely command a top secret drone operation to capture a group of dangerous terrorists from their safe-house in Nairobi, Kenya. The carefully planned mission suddenly escalates from a “capture” to a “kill” operation when Madden realizes that the terrorists are about to embark on a deadly suicide mission, which would result in the catastrophic deaths of many innocent civilians.
Meanwhile, American drone pilot Steve Watts (Paul) is poised to destroy the safe-house when a nine-year-old girl enters the kill zone just outside the walls of the targeted house. With unforeseen collateral damage now entering the equation and with the volatility of the situation increasing with every second that passes, Madden must now pass the mission's authority up the “kill chain” to politicians and lawyers, including British Foreign secretary James Willett, who must weigh both the legality and morality of action and inaction.
Active sales negotiations are already under way in Cannes, where eOne Films International is launching sales in the U.S. and in all territories outside of the UK, Canada, Benelux, Spain, and Australia/New Zealand, where eOne will directly distribute the film.
Production is expected to begin in South Africa on September 12, 2014.
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