Green Zone is an upcoming action thriller war film written by Brian Helgeland and directed by Paul Greengrass. The film is based on the 2006 book Imperial Life in the Emerald City by journalist Rajiv Chandrasekaran which is based in Green Zone, Baghdad. It stars Matt Damon, Amy Ryan, Greg Kinnear, and Brendan Gleeson. Production began in January 2008 in Spain and moved on to Morocco. The film is scheduled to be released on March 12, 2010.

Premise

Green Zone is a thriller that takes place in the Green Zone in Iraq before the surge by the United States.

Cast

• Matt Damon portrays Roy Miller, a warrant officer who helps a senior CIA officer in the search for weapons of mass destruction. Damon joined the film with the assurance that production would conclude by April 14, 2008 so he could start working on the Steven Soderbergh film The Informant! on April 15, amidst the scheduling difficulties caused by the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike.
• Amy Ryan portrays Lawrie Dayne, a foreign correspondent for The Wall Street Journal who investigates the U.S. government's claims of the existence of weapons of mass destruction.
• Greg Kinnear portrays Clark Poundstone, Pentagon Special Intelligence .
• Jason Isaacs portrays Maj. Briggs, an American military officer.
• Brendan Gleeson portrays Gordon Brown, the CIA Baghdad bureau chief.
• Martin McDougall portrays Mr. Sheen, CIA Baghdad assistant bureau chief.
• Khalid Abdalla portrays an injured Iraqi who has a "penchant for Bryan Adams". Abdalla was cast in the role after impressing Greengrass with his performance in United 93. The actor prepared for his role by learning the Iraqi Arabic dialect and reading Iraqi blogs like Riverbend and Alive in Baghdad.
• Antoni Corone portrays a colonel.
• Tommy Campbell portrays the Comms Chopper Commander.
• Paul McIntosh portrays a CIA officer
• Yigal Naor portrays a local officer
• Sean Huze portrays US Army Sergeant Conway, a member of Roy Miller's MET team.
• Robert Harrison O'Neil portrays a TV Journalist.

Production

In January 2007, after completing The Bourne Ultimatum, director Paul Greengrass announced his intent to adapt a film of the 2006 non-fiction book Imperial Life in the Emerald City by Rajiv Chandrasekaran, a journalist for The Washington Post. Greengrass wrote a script based on the book, working with researchers Kate Solomon and Michael Bronner, who helped the director research for United 93 (2006). The script was reported to be developed more in advance than the script for The Bourne Ultimatum, which had undergone changes during production. Screenwriter Tom Stoppard was originally requested to write the script for Greengrass, but because Stoppard was too busy, screenwriter Brian Helgeland instead collaborated with the director to shape the film's premise. Greengrass expressed interest in casting in the lead actor Matt Damon, with whom he had worked on The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum, and the actor joined the project in June 2007. Actors Amy Ryan, Greg Kinnear, and Antoni Corone were later cast in January 2008. Greengrass said of the project's contemporary relevance, "Film shouldn't be disenfranchised from the national conversation. It is never too soon for cinema to engage with events that shape our lives."

Production of Green Zone was originally slated to begin in late 2007. Instead, it began in Spain on January 10, 2008, moved to Morocco, and finished filming in the UK in December, 2008.

References

1. [1]
2. [2]
3. [3]
4. Yigal goes to Hollywood
5. http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=4BDD252F-3048-5C12-005680D7EA50430D
6. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1011341/#actor

External links

• Official website