For those that have not heard of it it is going to be a mini series like Band Of Brothers and from the producers of Band Of Brothers so I was told . The Release date is Aug.9th 2006
Synopsis
Flags of Our Fathers is based on a New York Times Bestseller book (year 2000) of the same name and is about a man’s quest to learn more about his father, a medical corpsman in WWII at the Battle of Iwo Jima. More than 22,000 Japanese soldiers would die defending a patch of ground a third the size of Manhattan, while nearly 26,000 Americans fell taking it from them. The battle, the largest sea armada invasion ever assembled and the costliest war ever fought by the US Marines, was also a turning point in the war because control of the island of Iwo Jima (Japanese territory) allowed Allied forces to launch B-29 bomber raids into the heart of Japan with the eventual dropping of the Atomic Bomb that would end WWII.
The battle would produce one of World War II’s most enduring images: a photograph of six soldiers raising an American flag on the top of Mount Suribachi, the island’s commanding high point.
The heart of the book centers around the tragic life stories of the six men who raised the flag that February day–one an Arizona Indian who would die following an alcohol-soaked brawl, another a Kentucky hillbilly, still another a Pennsylvania steel-mill worker–and who became reluctant heroes in the bargain.
Like the book, the movie is expected to focus on what happened to the men after the famous battle. The men in the photo–three were killed during the battle–were proclaimed heroes and flown home, to become reluctant symbols. For two of them, the adulation was shattering. Only John Bradley truly survived, displaying no copy of the famous photograph in his home, telling his son only: “The real heroes of Iwo Jima were the guys who didn’t come back.”
The movie script for Flags of Our Fathers will try to show the difference between truth and myth, the meaning of being a hero, and the essence of the human experience of war.
Some Movie Facts
Where was the movie shot?
There has been no official list of locations revealed yet, however, there are some that we do know:
* Iceland - combat scenes will be filmed here because of restrictions on shooting on Iwo Jima - where 30,000 lives, Japanese and American, were lost in a 31-day battle in early 1945 - and because there are black sand beaches in Iceland that look much like those of Iwo Jima.
* Chicago, IL - Wrigley Field
* Washington, D.C.
* Japan
* Los Angeles, CA
* New York, NY
* Hawaii
* Some parts of Iwo Jima Island
What is the film’s budget?
Estimated around $80 Million
When does filming start?
Production for started in August 2005 and ended mid November 2005. Currently, the film is in the editing and special effects stages at studios in Hollywood, California.
When is the film released?
USATODAY is reporting early August 2006.
I heard rumors that they were making a “companion piece” written by a Japanese screenwriter. Is the rumor true?
Yep! Eastwood wants to tell the Japanese side of the story, so he enlisted a Japanese screenwriter to help tell it. The film is named “Red Sun, Black Sand” and will probably film on the actual island of Iwo Jima. The film will also be entirely in Japanese with subtitles for the non-Japanese speaker.
Is James Bradley, the author of the book, involved at all in the making of this film?
No. Dreamworks purchased the film rights to the book and that allows them to adapt the story as they see fit for the screen. Word is that the script follows the book very closely and James Bradley has called the script “brilliant”.
What will the screenplay show?
The screenplay for Flags of Our Fathers interweaves brutal combat with the personal stories of the men who raised the stars and stripes on Mt. Suribachi — their suddenly lost youth, and the price paid for their valor by the families they left behind.
In a recent interview, Bradley had this to say about the script: "When I first read the script, I cried,” said Bradley. “And then I read it again, and I cried again.”
Film Cast
John “Doc” Bradley …Ryan Phillippe
Ira Hayes…Adam Beach
Rene Gagnon…Jesse Bradford
Ralph “Iggy” Ignatowski…Jamie Bell
Hank Hansen…Paul Walker
Cpt. Dave Severance…Neal McDonough
Sgt. Mike Strank…Barry Pepper
Walter Gust…Stark Sands
Lt. Wells…Matt Huffman
???..Kevin Chapman
Lt. Harold Schrier…Jason Gray-Standford
Louis Lowery…David Hornsby
Lt. Pennel…Tom Verica
Franklin Sousley…Joseph Cross
Harlon Block…Ben Walker
Lindberg…Alessandro Mastrobuono “Sandro”
Lundsford…Scott Reeves
More to be announced shortly…
Film Crew List:
Director…Clint Eastwood
Executive Producer…Steven Spielberg
Screenplay…Paul Haggis
More to be announced shortly…
The Trailer is due out very soon
Gut-