Bin Laden Movie Gets A Go

With a whole string of films undergoing changes or being withdrawn completely after the events of September 11, you might be surprised to know that Miramax have decided to go ahead with the adaptation a novel that features Osama bin Laden planning an attack on the White House. A curious decision considering the fact that almost any film even uttering the word 'terrorism' has had to carefully re-examine itself for fear of offending delicate sensibilities. Miramax, however, have decided to go ahead with the film, once certain too-close-for-comfort elements are removed. Andy McNab's novel, Crisis Four, concerns a British woman recruited by bin Laden to infiltrate and blow up the seat of presidential power. The hero is a former SAS operative whose task it is to hunt down the agent and stop her at all costs. "In light of this tragedy, we are reviewing the material," said Miramax spokesman Matthew Hiltzik. "There will be no plotline involving Osama bin Laden or a plot to blow up the White House." While this would appear to be the entire plot of the book gone out the window, Hiltzik insists that it is "premature" to discuss details of a revised plot. A screenwriter has reportedly been commissioned to sanitise the script, but if the DVD release of Danger Mouse and The Tower of Terror was pulled from the shelves to avoid giving offence, you have to wonder whether pressing on with Crisis Four isn't taking the piss just a little bit.