Mark Wahlberg, CBS making Boston Marathon bombing film ‘Patriots’ Day’
Mark Wahlberg and CBS Films are teaming to make “Patriots’ Day,” a feature film chronicling the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing and the ensuing manhunt for the perpetrators, the studio announced Tuesday.
The film will be based on the firsthand account of former Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis, with a screenplay by Matt Charman, writer of the upcoming Steven Spielberg Cold War thriller “Bridge of Spies.”
Wahlberg will produce the film with Scott Stuber, Dylan Clark, Stephen Levinson and Michael Radutzky. A proud Boston native, 43-year-old Wahlberg is also eyeing a role in the film, The Times has confirmed. A director has yet to be named.
“Patriots’ Day” will recount how Davis, working with federal, state and local authorities, responded to the April 2013 attack that killed three and injured more than 260. In the aftermath, Boston was locked down as law enforcement officers rushed to apprehend suspects Tamerlan Tsarnaev and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. The former was killed in a shootout with police, while the latter was taken into custody and is on trial for capital murder.
CBS described “Patriots’ Day” as “an intense thriller, spanning the five-day search up to the infamous siege where Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was pulled from a boat in Watertown.”
The film marks CBS Films’ first collaboration with “60 Minutes” senior producer Radutzky. Davis appeared in a segment on the show shortly after the bombing, and the studio has acquired rights to his life and the information in connection with the story.
Twentieth Century Fox is also developing a rival movie about the bombing, “Boston Strong,” based on Casey Sherman and Dave Wedge’s nonfiction book.
Follow @ogettell for movie news
Only good movies
Get the Indie Focus newsletter, Mark Olsen's weekly guide to the world of cinema.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
