Hollywood bidding wars are strange things; groups of directors/actors all wanting the chance to put their spin on the hottest new property. So many interesting possibilities but like Connor MacLeod always says, there can be only one.
After a furious bidding war Warner Bros. has snagged the rights to "It’s What I Do: A Photographer’s Life Of Love and War", a memoir by Lynsey Addario. Steven Spielberg is attached to direct with Jennifer Lawrence set to star in the film about a war photographer who searches for truth in the most dangerous places.
Several other production companies and top directors were also bidding on the story. Working Title bid with the intention of having Reese Witherspoon star, The Weinstein Company was bidding for George Clooney and Grant Heslov, Darren Aronofsky went to bat for Natalie Portman, and Margot Robbie threw her hat into the ring as well. All of that was for naught however because the one-two combo of Steven Spielberg and Jennifer Lawrence is a pretty hard deal to turn down.
Here's the book synopsis from Amazon:
War photographer Lynsey Addario’s memoir It’s What I Do is the story of how the relentless pursuit of truth, in virtually every major theater of war in the twenty-first century, has shaped her life. What she does, with clarity, beauty, and candor, is to document, often in their most extreme moments, the complex lives of others. It’s her work, but it’s much more than that: it’s her singular calling.
Lynsey Addario was just finding her way as a young photographer when September 11 changed the world. One of the few photojournalists with experience in Afghanistan, she gets the call to return and cover the American invasion. She makes a decision she would often find herself making—not to stay home, not to lead a quiet or predictable life, but to set out across the world, face the chaos of crisis, and make a name for herself.
Addario's story sounds fascinating, you can definitely see why so many big names wanted in on the project. Spielberg's next film is the upcoming ST. JAMES PLACE, a cold war thriller starring Tom Hanks coming out October 16th, 2015.