Butler, Worthington, McConaughey hear 'Thunder'

ButlerWorthingtonMcConaughey Freedom Films will Iraq, tapping Gerard Butler, Mike Worthington and Matthew McConaughey to topline "Thunder Run" with Simon West set to direct the storyline from the capture of Baghdad in 2003.John Presley, Boss of Freedom Films, made the announcement Thursday. Presley will produce alongside Carissa Buffel and Kevin Matusow of Freedom Films and Jib Polhemus from the Graphic Film Company.Hyde Park Intl. has signed on for worldwide sales in the American Film Market.Movie, to become proven in three dimensional, is dependant on the novel "Thunder Run -- The Armored Strike to Capture Baghdad," by David Zucchino. Robert Port and Ken Nolan, film writer of "Black Hawk Lower," will adapt.Producers stated the Graphic Film Company will utilize proprietary facial-capture technology they utilized on West's approaching "Evening from the Living Dead: Roots 3-D" together with the motion capture technology utilized in "Avatar."Pressley stated "Thunder Run' "would be the first conventional war film designed to make use of the particular facial and motion capture technology together with condition-of-the-art CG and three dimensional." He stated he's been dealing with West within the last 5 years around the project."Thunder Run" will concentrate on three battalions and also the less than 1,000 males starting a thrust of tanks and Bradley Fighting Automobiles into Baghdad in April 2003. That assault was the outlet of the three-day blitzkrieg, which military professionals frequently make reference to like a lightning strike, or "thunder run." Contact Dork McNary at dork.mcnary@variety.com