Film Rights Optioned by Sony to Clarke Bestseller

Film Rights Optioned to Clarke Bestseller
Mon Apr 12,10:36 AM ET
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The bestseller at the center of a national debate on America's security, "Against All Enemies: Inside America's War on Terror," may soon be hitting the silver screen.

Sony Pictures has optioned the film rights to former counterterrorism official Richard Clarke's book, which questions the country's readiness to address potential terrorist threats before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

The project will be produced by John Calley, a veteran Hollywood executive who stepped down as the studio's chief executive and chairman last year.
Clarke last month testified at the commission investigating the Sept.11 attacks and said the Bush White House did not consider terrorism an urgent matter in the months before hijackers crashed commercial airliners into the World Trade Center and Pentagon (news - web sites). The White House launched a counterattack to refute the charge.

Clarke, who worked in the administrations of Presidents Bill Clinton (news - web sites) and George W. Bush, retired last year.