Spike Lee nabs rights to WWII tale 'Hell'

February 02, 2009 The hyphenate's production company 40 Acres and a Mule has acquired rights to Brendan Koerner's "Now the Hell Will Start," a nonfiction tale about a private who went native in the Southeast Asia jungle during World War II, and will develop as a feature. Penguin Press brought out the book last summer, in which Koerner tracks the story of Private Herman Perry, a black soldier from Washington who, after shooting another soldier, went on the run in the Indo-Burmese jungle and eventually became assimilated into tribal culture. Lee, repped by Endeavor, and 40 Acres recently tackled World War II, directing the African-American-themed tale "Miracle at St. Anna" for Disney; Lee's banner also is working on a Michael Jordan documentary and developing a James Brown biopic.

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