Netflix Developing War Film Based on NO WAY OUT Memoir From Afghanistan Siege
Netflix is gearing up for another major war drama, and this one comes with a very personal connection for Prince Harry.
A feature film adaptation of No Way Out: The Searing True Story of Men Under Siege is officially in development for Netflix, with Oscar-nominated writer Matt Charman attached to adapt the memoir for the screen as part of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s Archewell Productions deal with the streamer.
The project is based on the 2019 book written by Major Adam Jowett, who led Easy Company during a brutal standoff in Afghanistan’s Helmand Province in July 2006.
The story centers on a unit made up of Paras and Royal Irish Rangers that was thrown together quickly and sent to hold the district center of Musa Qala under impossible conditions.
What followed sounds like something pulled straight out of a war classic. Easy Company found themselves isolated inside a crumbling compound, heavily outnumbered and under constant attack from Taliban forces.
Over the course of twenty-one relentless days and nights, the soldiers endured wave after wave of assaults while supplies dwindled and survival became less certain by the hour.
Jowett’s memoir dives deep into the psychological pressure of command and the horrifying reality of combat.
The official description explains that he “evokes the heat and chaos of battle as the Taliban hit Easy Company with wave after wave of brutal attack.” It also explores “what it was like to have responsibility for the lives of his men as they fought back heroically over twenty-one days and nights of relentless, nerve-shredding combat.”
The book’s climax reportedly takes an unexpected turn just as the soldiers are running out of ammunition and hope.
The adaptation has been described as an emotional military thriller in the tradition of Black Hawk Down and The Bridge on the River Kwai, which gives a pretty good idea of the intensity Netflix is aiming for here.
The material also carries special significance for Prince Harry, who served two tours in Afghanistan, including deployment in Helmand Province.
Charman feels like a strong fit for this kind of grounded, high-pressure storytelling. The writer earned an Oscar nomination for Steven Spielberg’s Bridge of Spies starring Tom Hanks, and he’s remained busy in the streaming world ever since.
He created and ran Netflix’s Hostage, worked as writer and showrunner on Treason, and also created and produced Prisoner for Sky. He’s additionally developing Dirty for Amazon UK through his company Binocular Productions.
This marks the latest film project for Archewell as the company continues expanding its relationship with Netflix under a first-look deal. Other projects in development include adaptations of The Wedding Date written by Tracey Oliver and Carley Fortune’s romantic drama Meet Me At The Lake.
On the television side, Archewell is also developing a polo-themed drama from Francisca X. Hu alongside producers Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage of Fake Empire.
If No Way Out captures even a fraction of the tension and desperation described in Jowett’s memoir, this could end up being an intense war film.
Source: Deadline