Basically no-one saw “Five Minutes Of Heaven.” Which was a shame, because it was a powerful drama of guilt and reconciliation set amongst the Troubles in Northern Ireland, was easily German director Oliver Hirschbiegel‘s best since “Downfall,” and showcased excellent performances from James Nesbitt and Liam Neeson, the latter given a now-rare opportunity to do something other than punch Europeans in the head.
Fortunately, it seems that someone other than us likes it, as an email from FilmNation (the upcoming “The Raven“) announces that the company bought a new script from Guy Hibbert, the writer of “Five Minutes of Heaven,” entitled “Eye in the Sky,” and have set Hirschbiegel to direct. The script, originally developed at BBC Films, is described as “a gripping international thriller,” which follows the aftermath of a drone missile attack on a house in East Africa.
FilmNation’s Aaron Ryder comments that “As a company we have been searching for a project to do with Oliver for some time. He’s a filmmaker I’ve been pursuing for years and I’m incredibly excited that Guy’s script is going to be that project. It’s one of the best scripts I’ve read in a long time,” while producer Karen Lunder adds “This is one of those rare projects that you can’t stop thinking about long after the last page has been turned. Guy’s script is absolutely riveting and unique and we couldn’t have a better team to make this film.”
It sounds like it’s going to be pretty wide in scope, with Hirschbiegel saying that it follows as many as twenty different characters, with the director saying that “It’s a story I haven’t seen told before on screen.” There’s no word on when it might shoot, as yet; Hirschbiegel is currently filming the German mafia thriller “The Angel Face” with Moritz Bleibtreu, so we can only imagine it’ll land some time after that.