Clint Eastwood to Direct Biopic of ‘Miracle on the Hudson’ Pilot

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Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger captain of the US Airways flight #5149 that landed in New York's Hudson River in 2009, poses in his office at his home in Danville, Calif on Jan. 10. 2011.
Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger captain of the US Airways flight #5149 that landed in New York's Hudson River in 2009, poses in his office at his home in Danville, Calif on Jan. 10. 2011.Paul Sakuma—AP
By Katy Osborn

In 2011 it was J. Edgar Hoover; in 2014, ‘American Sniper’ Chris Kyle. Now, director Clint Eastwood seems to have found his next all-American protagonist: Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, the pilot who safely landed an Airbus A320 in New York City’s Hudson River in 2009.

Eastwood is set to direct the as-yet-unnamed biopic on the now-retired airline pilot, lauded as a national hero after the so-called “Miracle on the Hudson,” when he was forced to land US Airways Flight 1549 on water after a flock of Canadian geese disabled both of his engines following its takeoff from LaGuardia Airport.

The film is based on the New York Times bestselling memoir Sullenberger co-authored with Wall Street Journal columnist Jeffrey Zaslow: Highest Duty: My Search for What Really Matters.

If the film does nearly as well as Eastwood’s American Sniper, which grossed upwards of $543 million worldwide in 2014, it’ll be a smooth landing indeed.

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