Although Samuel L. Jackson may be wearing an eye patch as Nick Fury in IRON MAN 2, it doesn’t mean that the man loves pirates. In fact, Jackson and his Uppity Films have secured the rights to Andrew Mwangura’s story, a negotiator between pirates and the owners of vessels hijacked off the coast of Africa. Jackson plans on playing Mwangura, who was never paid for his work as a negotiator, and instead made his living as a freelance journalist.
Jackson will join forces with Andras Hamori’s H20 Motion Pictures, having previously worked on the forgettable FORMULA 51 together. Hamori flew to Mombassa and negotiated a rights deal as Mwangura brokered the freedom of the crew and cargo of the Ukrainian ship V.S. Faina for $3.4 million. The price was so high because the pirates discovered a secret cache of Russian tanks. No, I’m not making this up. I smell a keeper.