Disney Passes on Clint Eastwood's THE BALLAD OF RICHARD JEWELL and Warner Bros. Picks It Up

Last month we learned that Clint Eastwood was set to direct a new film called The Ballad of Richard Jewell. The project was originally set up at Fox, but when Disney bought the studio this is one of the projects they ended up passing on.

We’ve now learned Warner Bros. has closed a deal securing the rights to the film. This makes sense, because Eastwood and WB have a long working relationship with each other. Eastwood has been wanting to direct this film for awhile, so it’s good to see that he’s going to get to tell this story.

The film will tell the true story of Richard Jewell, “a security guard whose life was turned upside down in a moment after it was leaked by law enforcement to a reporter that Jewell was a possible suspect in the Olympic Park bombing during the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. From the moment he was outed by an article written by an overzealous reporter at the Atlanta Journal Constitution, Jewell went from hero to one of the most hated men in America.”

Jewell is the security guard who discovered a suspicious backpack in the Olympics compound and cleared the area, saving people’s lives. Then he was falsely accused and became an outcast. “Even though the FBI cleared Jewell as a suspect three months later, the true American hero never fully got his reputation back or his confidence in himself, and his health was forever damaged. Jewell, who later became a police officer, died in 2007 of a heart attack at the age of 44.”

The film project in based on the Vanity Fair article “The Ballad Of Richard Jewell,” and it is being adapted into a script by Billy Ray (Captain Phillips).

The film project was previously in development with Jonah Hill attached to play Jewell at one point, and Leonardo DiCaprio was looking to play Jewell’s lawyer. As of right now, though, no one is attached to star, but Eastwood plans on shooting the film this summer.

Source: Variety