The Bourne Identity meets Catch Me If You Can

It's times like this when I wish I ran a production company. After three days of neglecting my blog because I was so busy working - and came to Los Angeles for business meetings and hustling to wrap up some moving things while I was here - I had nothing to write about. Frankly, my life isn't very exciting and I much prefer talking about the big wide world outside of my tiny existence. I had only to listen on NPR and browse the New York Times on a relaxing Saturday morning (my first in weeks) to hear about several extremely interesting things.

The first is an upcoming book release from a British author who wrote a book about a man who was a British double-agent during World War Two. It sounds unbelievable, a natural to be made into a film with an already juicy title: Zigzag: The Incredible Wartime Exploits of Double Agent Eddie Chapman. Basically the guy was a wild man, the kind that usually has to be invented. John Nash invented a hilariously fun and care-free best friend in A Beautiful Mind, and the Leonardo DiCaprio character in Catch Me If You Can was a total fabrication, reinvented every few years for maximum appeal to women and adventure.

But this is a true story of a controversial figure whose loyalty was questioned by everyone. A "rogue and a patriot," he was considered a prime candidate as a double-agent because of his apparent lack of scruples. Spending most of the war partying and womanizing he still managed to complete his assignments, won the Iron Cross from Germany for his (unknown to be traitorous) activities and even volunteered to assassinate Adolf Hitler. The files on Eddie Chapman were declassified a few years ago and nothing's been written on him since the fifties. The author of the first book written with access to those files (another author is releasing a book later this year), describes on NPR this highly unpredictable character who spent 18 months in the bosom of the enemy, at a fabulous Chateau in occupied France.


I couldn't find any reference that this story is being made into a film or even that the film rights have been purchased. Is it possible that Hollywood is so drunk on the profits of the blockbuster (this summer topped $4 billion making it the biggest summer ever with most of the money coming from sequels) that they are overlooking gems like this? In 2001-2002 there were a slew of World War II movies excavating every possible story that hadn't yet been told - The Pianist, Enigma, Charlotte Gray, Windtalkers, U-571, Pearl Harbor, Enemy at the Gates, Hart's War, Focus - and I decided I couldn't watch another WWII movie. But I have to say, this sounds like a fun story about an agent with the wiles of Jason Bourne, the charm and good looks of James Bond and the fantasy life of Frank Abagnale Jr. Unfortunately, I won't make the bucks of Spiderman 3 and might not get made unless Steven Spielberg gets behind it.