American director and producer Michael Bay, the filmmaker behind Pearl Harbor, Pain & Gain and the Transformers movies, is ready to direct a film about the U.S. pilots retrieved from behind enemy lines in Iran during Operation Epic Fury.
The work will chronicle the spectacularly successful rescue mission of the two U.S. aircrew from a downed F-15E fighter jet recovered during the mission Donald Trump sent to Iran even as leakers put the effort in jeopardy.
In a statement, Bay says the film will celebrate “the true heroism and unwavering dedication of our service members.”
The Universal Pictures film will set out the story of the airmen’s survival – seemingly against all odds – and the White House response after their F-15E Strike Eagle was struck down during the U.S. attack on Iran.
The news was reported by Deadline, whose sources told them Bay will honor the extraordinary heroism of the airmen as they survived behind enemy lines before they were found and liberated.
Euroenews detailed some of the background:
The film will be based on journalist Mitchell Zuckoff’s forthcoming book about the rescue mission, which arrives via Harper Collins in 2027.
It will mark Bay’s second collaboration with Zuckoff, following 2016’s 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi – which followed members of the Annex Security Team who fought to defend the American diplomatic compound in Libya after waves of attacks by militants.
Iran shot down the F-15 fighter jet on 3 April and also caused the crash of an A-10 attack aircraft near the strait of Hormuz on the same day.
Officials described the shootdown as a “worst-case scenario,” with U.S. forces racing to recover the crew before Iranian units could capture them.
“We will never leave an American warfighter behind,” Trump declared afterwards, adding that the successful recovery of both crew members without any U.S. fatalities demonstrated “overwhelming air dominance” over Iran.