Antoine Fuqua, the visionary director behind such films as TRAINING DAY, THE EQUALIZER, and the upcoming INFINITE, starring Mark Wahlberg, will direct SIEGE OF BETHLEHEM for Bron Studios. The upcoming project is based on the book A Season in Bethlehem: Unholy War in a Sacred Place written by former Newsweek Jerusalem bureau chief Joshua Hammer. While Fuqua's INFINITE is still in the throws of its post-production process, it's been said that the director will tackle Siege after helming EMANCIPATION, the runaway slave action thriller led by Will Smith.
Per Deadline, Siege of Bethlehem tells how a Muslim, an Israeli Jew, and a Christian American came together to prevent a battle from breaking out between the Israeli army and a group of armed Palestinian militants who had taken refuge in Bethlehem’s Church of the Nativity, the believed birthplace of Jesus. At the close of 39 days, despite the resistance put up by many of their superiors and colleagues, the three managed to reach a resolution, ending the siege and avoiding an all-out war on the church’s hallowed grounds.
Bron is set to produce Siege of Bethlehem alongside Michael Kase (6 UNDERGROUND, TRANSFORMERS), by way of a screenplay co-written by Avi Issacharoff, the Palestinian and Arab Affairs Correspondent for Haaretz, and Matt Cook, a military veteran who served two combat tours in Iraq.
Issacharoff and Lior Raz, who delivered Netflix's FAUDA television series, Kase and Bron’s Aaron L. Gilbert (JOKER) will produce. Lastly, Jason Cloth of Creative Wealth Media will act as the film's executive producer.
“We are excited to partner with talented storytellers who have an unparalleled understanding of this extraordinary event and with action film icons who have the ability to bring it to life in the most powerful way,” said Gilbert.
“I’ve been shepherding this project for 15 years,” says Kase. “There couldn’t be a more appropriate time for a movie like this; it’s a story about uniting people through peace at a time of significant unrest.”
When Fuqua's SIEGE OF BETHLEHEM will roll into production is anyone's guess, especially with select filming locations still being on lockdown for the foreseeable future. That said, this project sounds like something the director can really sink his teeth into, and I look forward to hearing more about it once production starts heating up.