The story of a man who escaped from prison via a tunnel that was dug into his cell and equipped with a motorcycle is a story that pretty much begs to be turned into a film, and so it is that there’s apparently a movie in the works about Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán. El Chapo — erstwhile head of the Sinoloa drug cartel — is currently the guest of a high security American penitentiary, having been recaptured in January last year after his storied escape from a Mexican jail in 2014. The film will be based on an upcoming book, snappily entitled Hunting El Chapo: The Thrilling Inside Story of the American Lawman Who Captures the World’s Most-Wanted Drug Lord, by CIA agent Cole Merrell (a pseudonym, obviously) and Douglas Century, professional author of books about exciting boy’s own subjects like terrorism and law enforcement.
It’s the second upcoming movie based on El Chapo; Ridley Scott is already scheduled to direct The Cartel, based on a fictional adaptation of Guzmán’s life. As per the Hollywood Reporter, the new film will be produced by 3 Arts Entertainment, and — god help us — Michael Bay is at the top of the studio’s directorial wishlist, which no doubt means that the film will be subtle, understated, in-depth, and absolutely not all about giant pyrotechnic-laden robots. There’s no word yet as to whether Sean Penn will be involved.
