The smoke has just cleared on Gavin O’Connor's Western drama JANE GOT A GUN and he’s already set on another project. The director will now helm MASSACRE IN THE HIMALAYAS; an adaptation of the Freddie Wilkinson story about an international team of experienced mountain climbers who attempted to summit Pakistan's K2 when they were attacked by terrorists.
It sounds harrowing and badass to say the least; the inspiration comes from the August 2013 Men’s Journal article which I highly recommend reading.
O’Connor said about the upcoming film:
"I love the idea of using the colossal backdrop of K2, the second highest peak on earth, to explore a man’s battle for survival against the Taliban, nature, and himself. Our hero becomes a one-man army on a quest to avenge the deaths of his mountaineering team. His experience becomes a living nightmare, a lifetime journey, and a redefinition of the man."
Producer Gianni Nunnari of Hollywood Gang Productions acquired the rights to the story and had this to say:
"'Massacre In The Himalayas' is a Hollywood Gang kind of movie. It's hard-hitting and it’s about extreme men in extreme circumstance. And Gavin is our perfect filmmaker; no one else brings his level of intensity or creates his kind of nuanced characters."
If the name O’Connor sounds familiar it’s because he was recently attached to the TELL NO ONE remake; he also directed 2011's WARRIOR, one of my favorite movies of that year. We don't know which project he's going at first but I’d really like to see this adaptation on the big screen. I love tales of survival and and true action adventure story set in Himalayas sounds like a winner.