PEBBLE BEACH, CA – FEBRUARY 14: Clint Eastwood waits on the 18th green to present the trophy during the final round of the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am at Pebble Beach Golf Links on February 14, 2010 in Pebble Beach, California. (Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images)

From Chris Kyle to Richard Jewell? That’s the move Clint Eastwood is considering for his next project, according to Deadline.

After directing American Sniper, the highest-grossing film of 2014, Eastwood is reportedly very interested in taking on the story of Richard Jewell, the security guard at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta who found a bomb at Centennial Olympic Park before it exploded and ended up saving hundreds of people. Days later, however, Jewell became a suspect in the FBI’s investigation, and was hounded by authorities and media for nearly three months.

Jewell will be played in the film by Jonah Hill, reuniting with his co-star in The Wolf of Wall Street, Leonardo DiCaprio. DiCaprio is reportedly attached to the role of the lawyer (presumably Watson Bryant) who knew Jewell and helped him through the investigation and media circus that developed.

The movie is based on a 1997 Vanity Fair feature by Marie Brenner titled “The Ballad of Richard Jewell,” with a script written by Billy Ray (Captain Phillips, The Hunger Games).

Ray might be the ideal writer for such a project, as he’s familiar with true-life stories of controversy and conspiracy. He wrote and directed 2003’s Shattered Glass, about disgraced journalist Stephen Glass, and 2007’s Breach, which told the story of Eric O’Neill, the FBI employee who discovered agent Robert Hanssen was selling secrets to Russian spies.

With Hill and DiCaprio in the cast, Ray writing the script, and now Eastwood showing interest in directing, Jewell’s story could have some major star power behind it on both sides of the camera. By the time the movie comes out, it will have been 20 years since the security guard rode a dizzying path in the national spotlight from acclaimed hero to accused terrorist.

Richard Jewell Atlanta Olympic hero

If you saw the “30 for 30” short, Judging Jewell, you might recall that the documentary makes a somewhat abrupt jump in its narrative, from Jewell being under intense scrutiny and fearing prosecution to FBI agents deciding that he’s no longer a suspect after piecing together the case. It will be intriguing to see if that’s the blank space that this movie will try to fill, considering that Jewell’s friend and lawyer is presumably a key part of the story.

Or will the feature film cover much of the same territory as Judging Jewell? The short film largely focused on the building up and tearing down of a person initially cast as a hero, but soon turned into a villain due to hasty conclusions drawn by investigators and journalists. Director Adam Hootnick also made a point of showing the emotional toll that the accusations and investigations took on Jewell and his family.

Eastwood hasn’t really been the sort of filmmaker who’s taken a critical eye of institutions like the FBI or the news media (2011’s J. Edgar being a possible exception). His movies tend to be more straightforward, concerned with the drama and human interest in a story.

Previously, Paul Greengrass was rumored as a possible director for the film. He would have been an intriguing choice, having directed real-life stories such as Captain Phillips and United 93. Additionally, the British filmmaker may have brought an outside view on American law enforcement and news media that could have potentially resulted in a different sort of movie.

Greengrass has apparently moved on to direct a third Bourne Identity film with Matt Damon. But even if he hadn’t, it’s likely that Fox would have pushed him aside for Eastwood anyway. Following American Sniper‘s huge success, he’s in the position of getting to direct whatever he wants at this point. And that could bring the Jewell film a lot of attention when it comes to Academy Award consideration.

[Deadline]

About Ian Casselberry

Ian is a writer, editor, and podcaster. You can find his work at Awful Announcing and The Comeback. He's written for Sports Illustrated, Yahoo Sports, MLive, Bleacher Report, and SB Nation.

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