Oscar-winning director Ron Howard is set to direct a new war drama, Alone at Dawn, featuring Adam Driver and Anne Hathaway in the lead roles. The film, based on a true story, will be released in theaters by Amazon MGM. This project marks the first time Driver and Hathaway will share the screen.
The True Story Behind the Film
Alone at Dawn is based on the 2019 nonfiction book of the same name by Dan Schilling and Lori Chapman Longfritz. The film tells the incredible true story of John Chapman, an Air Force Combat Controller.
In 2002, during a SEAL Team Six mission in the war in Afghanistan, Chapman’s helicopter was downed. He saved his comrades while sustaining multiple wounds and was inadvertently left for dead. Later, he regained consciousness and, despite being mortally wounded, engaged in more fighting when another U.S. chopper flew into the area. His heroic actions saved numerous lives.
Years after his death, an intelligence officer worked to prove his valor, leading an investigation that resulted in Chapman’s Air Force Cross being upgraded to the Medal of Honor. He became the first Air Force Combat Controller to receive the honor in nearly fifty years. Adam Driver will portray Chapman, while Anne Hathaway will play the intelligence officer who fought to secure his medal.
The Filmmaking Team
Ron Howard, known for acclaimed true-story adaptations like Apollo 13 and Thirteen Lives, is directing the project. The film falls under Amazon MGM’s first-look deal with Howard and Brian Grazer’s production company, Imagine Entertainment.
The screenplay was adapted by Michael Russell Gunn, with subsequent revisions by writers Erin Cressida Wilson and Amy Herzog. Dan Schilling, a fellow Combat Control Technician, will serve as a military consultant on the film. Lori Chapman Longfritz, who is Chapman’s sister, co-wrote the source book.
Producers on the project include Imagine Entertainment, The Hideaway Entertainment, and Thruline Entertainment, along with Kristy Grisham, William Connor, and Patrick Newall.
A Project Years in the Making
The journey of Alone at Dawn to the big screen is almost as remarkable as the story itself. Thruline Entertainment brought the book manuscript to The Hideaway Entertainment, which optioned it in a heated bidding war before it even became a New York Times bestseller.
The Hideaway then hired Gunn to adapt the script and brought the project to Imagine Entertainment. Director Ron Howard was so impressed with the story that he decided to come on board immediately. The project was subsequently set up at Amazon MGM.
Howard then focused on casting the film’s central role. He found a perfect fit in Adam Driver, an Oscar-nominated actor and a former U.S. Marine who has long been interested in the right military project. After Driver was on board, the script was sent to Anne Hathaway. Following a meeting with Howard and the producers, she signed on to co-star.
The Stars’ Upcoming Projects
Anne Hathaway is currently filming The Devil Wears Prada 2. She has also completed work on Christopher Nolan’s upcoming ensemble film The Odyssey and David Lowery’s Mother Mary. She will next be seen in Flowervale Street and is set to reprise her role in a third The Princess Diaries film.
Adam Driver will soon be seen in Jim Jarmusch’s Father Mother Sister Brother, which recently won the top prize at the Venice Film Festival, and James Gray’s Paper Tiger. He most recently appeared in Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis and Michael Mann’s Ferrari.
