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.
More Must-Reads From TIME
- The 100 Most Influential People of 2024
- The Revolution of Yulia Navalnaya
- 6 Compliments That Land Every Time
- What's the Deal With the Bitcoin Halving?
- If You're Dating Right Now , You're Brave: Column
- The AI That Could Heal a Divided Internet
- Fallout Is a Brilliant Model for the Future of Video Game Adaptations
- Want Weekly Recs on What to Watch, Read, and More? Sign Up for Worth Your Time
Contact us at letters@time.com