The lack of interest audiences seemed to have in Out of the Furnace despite an Oscar-worthy cast was surprising, but it didn't slow down Scott Cooper in the least. He moved on to another film with big name stars, joining Johnny Depp for the Whitey Bulger biopic, Black Mass. While Cooper is still on set of that one he's already looking forward to his next project, a film on the brave firefighters of the Granite Mountain Hotshots.
It was last year as wildfires raged across Arizona that 19 members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots died while trying to stop the Yarnell Hill blaze. Cooper will direct a film on their heroic act and sacrifice with Ken Nolan (Black Hawk Down) writing the screenplay. Brendan McDonough was the only member of the team to survive and he is consulting on the film, along with Amanda Marsh, the widow of the squad's leader, Eric Marsh. Producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura says the aim is to honor the men and their loyalty to one another rather than focusing on the tragedy, the largest wildland firefighter
di Bonaventura: “The nation came together to mourn the great loss of life by these heroes, but their bonds with each other makes their story so much more extraordinary and compelling. The story of the Granite Mountain Hotshots, and the tragedy that befell them, is not as much about the fire as it is about a group of blue-collar guys and their families and the brotherhood that they form with one another.” [Deadline]
