http://dailynews.yahoo.com/htx/bpihw/20020109/en/_flight_93_film_on_way_to _cbs_1.html
'Flight 93' film on way to CBS By Nellie Andreeva LOS ANGELES (The Hollywood Reporter) --- The story of hijacked United Airlines Flight 93, which crashed in a field in Pennsylvania on Sept. 11, is coming to the small screen. CBS is developing "The Real Story of Flight 93," a telefilm from Emmy-winning producer Lawrence Schiller (CBS' "Perfect Murder, Perfect Town"), about the 90-minute flight, told from the perspective of the people on the ground. In addition to "Flight 93," Schiller has a host of high-profile longform projects set at CBS and USA Network, including CBS movies about the Boston Strangler and FBI veteran and alleged Russian spy Robert Hanssen. Schiller is also close to acquiring the rights to Patricia Cornwell's book on Jack the Ripper to turn it into a telefilm. "Flight 93" is one of several Sept. 11-themed long-form projects in development. Alliance Atlantis is developing internally a movie that centers on the Hamburg terrorist cell that allegedly included at least three of the Sept. 11 suicide attackers, including ringleader Mohamed Atta. Additionally, a number of projects deriving from the events onboard Flight 93 have been pitched to the networks. Schiller, who believes we're too close to the tragedy to do that, took a different approach. "Flight 93" is about how the people who followed the flight on the ground "rose to the occasion trying to find out what was happening in the air and deal with it," he said. "It's not a story only of heroes, it's a story of the futility, of trying to deal with something that they didn't even know was possible." Other movie projects based on true stories that Schiller has in development at CBS include: o"The Boston Strangler," based on new documents uncovered by Schiller that include witness reports accusing another person; o"Columbine USA," that looks into school shootings and adolescent violence and their roots in the teens' families; o"The Thomas Affair," about a man who sues the Ford Motor Co. for the death of his wife in a car crash and is later accused by Ford of murdering his wife and staging the murder as an accident; o"The Washington Scandal," about the power of Washington congressmen and their relationships with aspiring interns; inspired by the Chandra Levy case. Additionally, Schiller is developing "Spellbound," a movie for USA. Schiller, who comes from a journalistic background, produces his projects through his KLS Communications production company. Fox TV Studios is distributing. Schiller, who won an Emmy for "Peter the Great" and most recently produced CBS' "American Tragedy," is repped by ICM.
