Warner Bros. and Red Wagon Entertainment are teaming on the movie project “Honorable Exit” about the 1975 secret evacuation of Saigon during the last 60 days of the Vietnam War.
The project, based on the yet-to-be-published book by Thurston Clarke, centers on a renegade group of American diplomats, soldiers and officials who rebelled against their own government and ensured the evacuation of nearly 125,000 South Vietnamese who would have otherwise been casualties of war.
“Honorable Exit” sold at auction to Doubleday earlier this year.
Based on a proposal and early interviews conducted by the author, the book was optioned pre-emptively by Warner Bros. for Red Wagon toppers Doug Wick and Lucy Fisher. The studio and Red Wagon last teamed on “The Great Gatsby,” which topped $350 million at the worldwide box office.
Clarke has written a dozen books including 2008’s “The Last Campaign: Robert F. Kennedy and 82 Days That Inspired America” and 2013’s “JFK’s Last Hundred Days: The Transformation of a Man and the Emergence of a Great President.”
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Courtenay Valenti and Jon Gonda are the executives for Warner Bros. and Charlie Morrison will be over the project for Red Wagon.
Wick and Fisher recently launched the four-film “Divergent” franchise through Lionsgate with the first film grossing $275 million worldwide. They are in production on “Insurgent,” which will open in March.
