Universal Acquires Rights to NY Times Magazine Article for Scott Stuber (EXCLUSIVE)
Less than a week after it appeared online, New York Times Magazine article “Sleep-away Camp for Postmodern Cowboys” has landed at Universal Pictures.
Scott Stuber was competing for rights to the story about a special military training camp and brought the project into Uni. Stuber plans to produce under his Bluegrass Films banner.
Josh Eell’s 4,900-word article, which published online July 19, revolves around the fifth annual Warrior Competition in Jordan. Dubbed the “Olympics of counterterrorism,” the event pit thirty-two teams from around the world against each other on mock missions like storming hijacked jets and raiding buildings.
SVP of production Alexa Faigen will oversee development on behalf of Bluegrass and executive produce alongside Eells. Universal’s executive vice president of production Jon Mone and creative executive Jay Polidoro will oversee for the studio.
Given how quickly Uni pounced on the project, the studio may try to quicken the process of finding a writer. Eells is a contributing editor to “Rolling Stone” and “Men’s Journal.”
Stuber most recently produced “Identity Thief” which made more than $171 million worldwide and his next film “47 Ronin” bows this Christmas.
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