13 Hours Movie News: From 'Transformers' To '13 Hours' - Major Shift For Director Michael Bay
Michael Bay is tipped to direct "13 Hours," a film about the terrorist attack on the U.S. Diplomatic Compound in Benghazi, Libya.
This will be a major shift for Bay who has long been associated with the "Transformers" film franchise that is universally hated by critics, but has seen huge commercial success.
"13 Hours" recounts the terrorist attack in Benghazi on Sept. 11, 2012, the 11th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks in the United States. The attack saw the consulate compound being breached and ended with Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens' death. Foreign service worker Sean Smith was also killed. In subsequent fighting that took place at the nearby CIA annex, two more CIA contract workers, Glen Doherty and Tyrone S. Woods, were killed.
Bay's involvement with "13 Hours" might be strange to some as he is normally associated with big-budget action-oriented films which cost around $200-250 million to make. The Hollywood Reporter notes that in comparison the $30-40 million budget of "13 Hours" seems meager. However, Bay is no stranger to smaller budgeted films as he has spent time away from the "Transformers" franchise and directed "Pain & Gain" in 2013.
After the fourth instalment in the Transformers franchise, "Transformers: Age of Extinction," was released this year, Bay announced that he would not be directing the next one which is due to be released in 2016. Bay's involvement in the project could mean that "13 Hours" will be another action-oriented film akin to "Black Hawk Down."
Chuck Hogan wrote the script for "13 Hours," which is being developed by Paramount and produced by Erwin Stoff. The script is fashioned on the book "Thirteen Hours: A Firsthand Account of What Really Happened in Benghazi," which was written by Mitchell Zuckoff. Variety notes that even before the book was published Paramount had already bought the rights to it.
