The Hollywood Reporter
by Rebecca Ford

Noam Galai/WireImage; Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic Samuel L. Jackson (left), Sebastian Stan

Christopher Plummer, William Hurt and Bradley Whitford also star.

It’s an Avengers reunion: Samuel L. Jackson has signed on to join Sebastian Stan in The Last Full Measure.

Christopher Plummer, William Hurt, Bradley Whitford, Michael Imperioli and Linus Roache also star in the film from Todd Robinson (White Squall, Lonely Hearts).

Based on the true story of a present-day cover-up investigation, The Last Full Measure follows young Pentagon investigator Scott Huffman (Stan) as he battles the political machine in Washington. He reluctantly teams with veterans of Operation Abilene to convince Congress to award the Medal of Honor to a courageous Air Force medic, William Pitsenbarger, who is seen saving the lives of more than 60 Marines who were ambushed in one of the bloodiest battles of the Vietnam War. As the battle waged on, and after the last helicopter left, he continued to save lives until his own was sacrificed.

Foresight Unlimited is handling international sales and producing in association with Provocator and SSS Entertainment. Timothy Scott Bogart, Mark Damon, Lauren Selig, Julian Adams, Nicholas Cafritz, Robert Reed Peterson and Shaun Sanghani are producing, with Tamara Birkemoe, Jenna Sanz-Agero, Sidney Sherman, Louis Steyn and T.J. Steyn executive producing. Pen Densham and John Watson are co-executive producers.

Principal photography is set to begin later this month in Atlanta and Costa Rica.

“When I read Todd Robinson’s exceptionally moving script and heard the real-life interviews of the many men whom William Pitsenbarger saved, I felt this could be a great film. With the award-winning cast that has been assembled, I am now sure of it,” said Foresight Unlimited’s Mark Damon.

Stan is currently in production on Avengers: Infinity War for Marvel Studios/Disney and I, Tonya starring Margot Robbie, and has wrapped work on Steven Soderbergh’s Logan Lucky. He is repped by ICM Partners and Brookside Artist Management.

Jackson will soon be seen in Legendary’s Kong: Skull Island, which Warner Bros. is releasing on Friday, and The Hitman’s Bodyguard for Lionsgate in August. He recently wrapped Brie Larson’s directorial debut Unicorn Store. Jackson is repped by ICM Partners and Anonymous Content.

Plummer can next be seen in The Exception for A24 and The Man Who Invented Christmas for Bleecker Street in December. Hurt can currently be seen on the Amazon series Goliath opposite Billy Bob Thornton and will next be seen in Live Like Line opposite Helen Hunt. Whitford is in postproduction on Unicorn Store and Three Christs starring Richard Gere; he previously starred in HBO’s All the Way and can currently be seen in the Universal hit Get Out. He’s repped by ICM Partners and Greenlight Management and Production. Imperioli most recently starred on Fox’s Lucifer, and Roache on History’s Vikings and in Netflix’s Barry.

CINEMA BLEND
by Jessica Rawden

Mark Harmon And CBS Are Joining Forces For A Navy SEAL Show

Mark Harmon has had a pretty good thing going over at CBS, thanks to headlining NCIS and acting as an executive producer on both NCIS and NCIS: New Orleans. Now, the actor and producer wants to get further in bed with the eye network. On Tuesday, we learned Harmon is working with CBS to bring a Navy SEAL sniper drama to the air. The project is called The Red Circle.

So far, CBS has only signed on for a script commitment for The Red Circle, but we do know a little bit about the project. First and foremost, it is based on the New York Times bestseller The Red Circle: My Life In The Navy SEAL Corps And How I Trained America’s Deadliest Marksmen written by Brandon Webb and John David Mann. The book follows the true-to-life experience of Brandon Webb, a marksman who has both worked in the field for a SEAL team, as well as acted as the Course Manager for the Navy SEAL Sniper Program. The program will take a look at some of the “difficult” and “demanding” actions military members must take as a Navy SEAL.

THR says that Harmon will executive produce the project and Webb is actually on board to produce. Todd Robinson, who has written Lonely Hearts and Night and Day, is writing the script for CBS Television. Altogether, it’s a pretty solid lineup of talent.

The project comes a year after American Sniper made a big impact, both critically and financially. Clearly, the Clint Eastwood film was a big box office hit, and since CBS is always on the lookout for the type of project that will appeal to the masses, The Red Circle seems as if it could be a good fit, especially since the military is typically a good sell with older audiences. With Mark Harmon on board and CBS likely willing to shell out for talent as well, the final product will have every chance to succeed.

At this point in the development stage, however, it’s really too early to start getting excited. Even the projects with the best talent don’t always come together for whatever reason. There are just so many moving parts that all need to work for it to move forward, including getting a good script, the right budget, a pilot order and a competent pilot. Not to mention the right actors need to be cast. Basically, it’s an uphill battle, but if there’s anyone who is a good bet right now at CBS, it’s Mark Harmon.

Whatever ends up happening, we’ll keep you updated. In the meantime, you can take a look at what else CBS has coming up this fall.

Signed to write The Shangdong Boat Murders for a Chinese/American co-production.

Story
It sounds like a Hollywood thriller: 33 crew members started off on an ocean voyage on the Shandong No. 2683 trawler; when the fishing boat returned eight months later, only 11 men were left, with 20 murdered and two missing after a grueling mutiny and fight between factions on the ship.  A Weihai court in eastern China’s Shandong province convicted all 11 of the men for murder. Five of the men received death sentences, one given a suspended death sentence (life imprisonment, basically), and the other five  4 to 15-year sentences.