Combat Control | Sam Hargrave to direct

[Himmel]

Since the top of the year, no studio has been more aggressive in the marketplace then MGM, and it looks like it is close to landing another coveted package. Sources tell Deadline that MGM is in talks to acquire Combat Control, which tells the true story of Medal of Honor recipient John Chapman, with Jake Gyllenhaal on board to play the late war hero. Sam Hargrave, who has become one of the hotter directors in town after his action pic Extraction broke Netflix records last April, will direct the pic. His long-time collaborator Shelby Malone will associate produce. Gyllenhaal is executive producing.

Based on the New York Times bestseller Alone at Dawn by Dan Schilling and Lori Chapman Longfritz, Hideaway Entertainment recently hired Michael Russell Gunn to adapt the script. Shortly thereafter, while the script was being developed by the producers, the book was published and became a New York Times bestseller. Schilling is a military consultant on the movie and, like John Chapman, was also a Combat Control Technician (CCT).

Based on the true story of Air Force Combat Control Technician (CCT) Chapman, who died in battle on March 4, 2002 during the War in Afghanistan. Following his death, no one imagined it would take over a decade for the truth of what really happened on that snowy mountainside to emerge. 15 years later, the story recounts the ‘Medal of Honor’ investigation by Cora Alexander, an Air Force Captain, tasked with the nearly impossible job of proving that John Chapman is a worthy recipient, despite no eyewitnesses to his actions and the top-secret world surrounding clandestine operations. Alexander has to uncover the truth, and in revealing Chapman’s sacrifice to the world, she forges her own path to self-forgiveness and personal redemption. When Chapman was awarded the military’s highest award, the Medal of Honor (MOH) on August 22, 2018, the U.S. government allowed the release of his story, and that of the highly classified Combat Controllers (CCT), to the public. For the first time the world got a glimpse into the smallest, most secretive, and yet most highly decorated unit in the United States military. This MOH was the first awarded to a CCT in U.S. history and the first awarded to a member of the Air Force since Vietnam.

Producers are now beginning their thorough search for the actress that will play Alexander. ¥