Academy Award winning director, Ron Howard, has been picked to direct the hot drug smuggling script Mena.
Universal Pictures closed a $1 million deal to produce the spec script Mena and instantly attached Oscar winning helmer Ron Howard to direct, Deadline reports.
As the $1 million winning bid attests, the script for Mena was a hot property. Universal ended up winning with Sony also in on the bidding.
Mena was written by Gary Spinelli. The writer’s only prior credit is Stash House, a film that had very poor acclaim from its limited audience. Taking that into consideration, the big bidding that went on for Mena is an even greater thing for Spinelli as it will definitely help further his career.
The script is based on the true story of Barry Seal, a 1980s “portly pilot.” The 300 pound gun-runner was a drug trafficker who smuggled various drugs and other forms of contraband for both the CIA and the Medellin cartel. In the end, it was the cartel who led to his demise when they shot him.
The title Mena refers to Mena, Arkansas, the place where a lot of the illegal activity took place. Bill Clinton was the governor of Arkansas at the time, and the entirety of Seal’s dealings happened under his nose, as well as the noses of Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush.
The film does not yet have a planned production date, but director Howard has two projects currently planned for release in 2015, Heart of the Sea and Dan Brown’s Inferno. Assuming Inferno doesn’t get held up, (Heart of the Sea is in production currently), Mena couldn’t be released for at least a few years.