Summit, Participant Nab Rights to NYT Article About Oil-Rig Explosion in Gulf of Mexico

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Summit Entertainment and Participant Media have picked up film rights to The New York Times' article Deepwater Horizon's Final Hour, about the fateful moments leading up to last year's devastating BP oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.

The film will depict the courage of those who worked on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig before the explosion and subsequent oil spill. The explosion, caused when methane gas from the well shot up out of the drill column, killed 11 workers and injured 17 others.

Participant and Summit are co-financing the project in association with Imagenation Abu Dhabi. Summit is in talks with Lorenzo Di Bonaventura to produce.

The Times article was penned by David Barstow, David Rohde and Stephanie Saul.

Matthew Sand will pen the screenplay. His credits include American By Blood, The Summoner and The Red Star.

"This film will portray the great heroism that took place last year on the Deepwater Horizon rig and how colleagues so courageously came to each other's aide," Summit president of production Erik Feig. "This piece in The New York Times evoked the raw emotion these brave men experienced and endured throughout the tragedy that took place in April of last year, and we hope to evoke the same emotions for our audience with this movie."

The project is a natural choice for Participant, which cretes social action and advocacy programs for each of its films.

"This is a perfect fit for us--a suspenseful and inspiring real-life account of everyday people whose values are tested in the face of an impending environmental disaster," Participant president Ricky Strauss said.

ICM represents The New York Times and packaged the project. Sand is represented by ICM and Circle of Confusion.