Clint Eastwood to direct biopic about "Miracle on the Hudson" pilot Sullenberger
It was Capt. Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger who created the real-life "Miracle on the Hudson," bringing a distressed airliner to a safe water-landing on the Hudson River in 2009, and now Clint Eastwood is bringing the miracle to the big screen.
Warner Bros. Pictures announced Wednesday that the Academy Award-winning director will adapt Sullenberger's book "Highest Duty: My Search for What Really Matters," (co-written with Jeffrey Zaslow in 2009) into a biopic, telling the life story of the former Air Force fighter pilot and now retired commercial airline pilot (and CBS News aviation and safety expert) who became an American hero.
The film promises to capture the behind-the-scenes drama leading up to the fateful moment when birds struck the engine propeller of a U.S. Airways flight 1549 on January 15, 2009 that forced Sullenberger to make an emergency water landing, saving the lives of all 155 passengers.
"I am very glad my story is in the hands of gifted storyteller and filmmaker Clint Eastwood, and veteran producers Allyn Stewart and Frank Marshall," Sullenberger said.
"The project could not have found a better home than Warner Bros. Pictures. This is truly a dream team."