Stone enlists Willis for new Vietnam film
Story by Jack Foley
DIRECTOR Oliver Stone is returning to Vietnam for a fourth time – with Bruce Willis as his star.
Pinkville will be be based on the 1968 My Lai massacre and Willis will portray real-life army general William R Peers, who investigated the murder of hundreds of Vietnamese villagers by US soldiers.
More than 400 witnesses were questioned during the course of the investigation and 20,000 pages of testimony were taken before the inquiry reported its findings in March 1970.
Channing Tatum, who appeared in Step Up and A Guide To Recognizing Your Saints, has also signed on to play a military helicopter pilot who put a stop to the killing by placing his craft between soldiers and villagers.
According to Stone, a deal is close to being finalised with Hollywood film studio United Artists, who will finance the project. Filming is due to start next year with an estimated budget of $40m (£19.9m).
Pinkville marks the director’s fourth Vietnam movie, which began in 1987 with his four-time Oscar-winner Platoon, starring Charlie Sheen, Tom Berenger and Willem Dafoe.
Stone won a further two Oscars for Born On The Fourth of July, which starred Tom Cruise, while Heaven & Earth, with Tommy Lee Jones, won a Golden Globe in 1994.
Prior to shooting Pinkville, Stone has been linked to a new film about Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.