MadRiver Pictures has hired NO ESCAPE and AS ABOVE, SO BELOW director John Dowdle to helm SIX MINUTES TO FREEDOM, a true-life rescue action thriller about the story of Kurt Muse, who was arrested in 1989 for broadcasting anti-Manuel Noriega radio transmissions in Panama.
Muse was locked up in the Panamanian jail Carcel Modelo for several months before being saved by U.S. Delta forces after they invaded the country to take out the dictator, and to date is the only American civilian to be rescued by the elite special force. Dowdle is currently working on the script with his brother Drew, based on Muse and John Gilstrap's novel of the same name.
Book synopsis from Amazon:
Born in the United States and raised in Panama, Kurt Muse grew up with a deep love for his adopted country. But the crushing regime of General Manuel Noriega in the late 1980s threatened his, and a nation's, freedom. A nightmare of murder and unexplained disappearances compelled Kurt and a few trusted friends to begin a clandestine radio campaign, urging the people of Panama to rise up for their basic human rights.
Six Minutes to Freedom is the remarkable tale of Kurt Muse's arrest and harrowing months of imprisonment; his eyewitness accounts of torture; and the plight of his family as they fled for their lives. It is also the heart-pounding account of the only American civilian ever rescued by the elite Delta Force. Timelier than ever, this is a thrilling and highly personal narrative about one man's courage and dedication to his beliefs.
A release date for SIX MINUTES TO FREEDOM hasn't been announced yet, but it will likely open next year or sometime in 2017.