Less than three full months have passed since the bombing of the Boston Marathon, and already two of Hollywood’s elite writers are attached to a major motion picture inspired by that dark day’s events.

Paul Tamasy and Eric Johnson, co-writers of David O. Russell’s Academy Award-winning biopic The Fighter (also set in New England), are heading up a drama based on a yet-to-be published book called Boston Strong. According to Deadline, the pair picked up the rights to the book, which is currently being written by true crime author Casey Sherman and Boston Herald reporter Dave Wedge, at some point in recent weeks. No additional information regarding plans to adapt the book into a feature film have been revealed at this time.

Hoping to capture the reaction of the people of Boston to the bombing both during the attack and the terrifying manhunt that followed – which eventually led to the killing of one suspect, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, and the capture of his younger brother/alleged accomplice Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, Wedge and Sherman are among the first to tackle the bombings. Their book has no release date yet, but we’re sure you’ll hear about it as the shelf date nears.

Keeping in mind that movies based on books rarely resemble their source material, it still feels far too early to begin discussing the bombings as some kind of large-scale entertainment vehicle. Though the disasters in no way compare, this rush to claim “dibs” on a national tragedy brings to mind the rush to put out 9/11 films following the attack on the World Trade Center. One could argue United 93 and World Trade Center offered Americans a chance to remember those tragedies in a communal setting that some might consider honorable, but neither film appealed to me at the time and to be honest I still lack the desire to watch either unless forced. I know I may seem a bit too close to the tragedy considering that I am a resident of greater Boston, but I would argue that it was too soon even if I lived in the UK. This was a tragedy, not a major studio production waiting to happen.

There is going to be a lot of debate on the necessity of this film in the months to come, and we would love to hear from every one of you. Comment below and let us know if you think it’s too soon to bring the bombings to the silver screen.

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James Shotwell

James Shotwell is the founder of Under The Gun Review. He loves writing about music and movies almost as much as he loves his two fat cats. He's also the co-founder of Antique Records and the Marketing Coordinator for Haulix. You should probably follow him on Twitter.

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