Having made their initial mark in the horror genre with The Poughkeepsie Tapes, Quarantine, Devil and As Above So Below, writing-directing team Drew and John Erick Dowdle recently moved into action with the thriller No Escape. Sticking with the latter for the time being, their next film will be **Six Minutes To Freedom, based on the real-life adventures of Kurt Muse.
Muse got into trouble in Panama in the late '80s for running a pirate radio station broadcasting dissent against Manuel Noriega. He was imprisoned in the notorious Panamanian jail Carcel Modelo, and was liberated when the US invaded Panama to oust Noriega in December, 1989. His rescue was dubbed Operation Acid Gambit and carried out by the US Delta Force led by Chuck Norris and Lee Marvin. We've possibly got part of that wrong.
A small story of escape in a wider context of violent revolution is exactly what we've just seen in No Escape, so it's in many ways familiar territory for director John Erick and co-screenwriter Drew. But that's not to say it isn't a decent canvas for some visceral thrills. Muse and his Delta Force liberators survived a helicopter crash during their escape, for example. Expect a set-piece from that.
Work on the script is currently ongoing, with Six Minutes To Freedom currently expected in cinemas sometime in 2017.