Liz Hannah’s incredible breakout year just got even better. The screenwriter’s debut, “The Post,” bows December 22 and boasts Steven Spielberg as a director and stars Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks. Now she’s been hired by MGM to write “Only Plane in the Sky,” a drama that takes place on Air Force One in the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. Deadline broke the news.
Inspired by a Politico article by Garrett Graff, the project follows former U.S. President George W. Bush and his team as they are “whisked off from a Florida schoolroom and into Air Force One and into the sky — which was considered the safest place to be” following the terrorist attacks in New York City, the source summarizes.
MGM snagged the rights to “Only Plane in the Sky” after a competitive bidding war last year. No word on who will star, direct, or produce.
“It’s going to follow the similar structure to the article, starting in Florida in the morning and will end with him returning to D.C.,” Hannah told Deadline. “The things that get me excited and the stories I want to tell, the №1 thing that attracts me is the characters. Looking to tell a person’s story as they experience it individually. I’m from New York and grew up during 9/11, and I never ever thought I would want to write a movie about 9/11, but this kind of tore the cloth away and showed they experienced it, too, and it humanized everyone on that plane for me,” she explained. “It’s very compelling and very human. Everyone was a New Yorker that day. Everyone was an American. It wasn’t about being a Republican or a Democrat. I think that is an important story to tell right now.”
Hannah studied producing at the American Film Institute and got her start working in development at Charlize Theron’s production company. “The Post,” a drama about the Washington Post’s role in publishing the Pentagon Papers, marked her first spec deal. She was inspired to tell the story after reading former Post publisher Katharine Graham’s memoir. “I absolutely fell in love with her,” Hannah told Vulture. Hannah was shocked the spec attracted so much attention, especially since it was “a script about two people in their 50s in which no one kisses each other.” She received a call from producer and former Sony studio head Amy Pacscal, who told her that Spielberg was interested in directing.
