The Killer Elite is an upcoming film based on the extremely controversial novel/book The Feather Men by Sir Ranulph Fiennes. Fiennes has claimed that the book is “factional”, and that the main points—namely that a group of hitmen calling themselves “The Clinic” targeted members of the British SAS on order from a Dubai sheik seeking revenge, and they were confronted by a vigilante group of Special Forces members calling themselves “The Feather Men”—all occurred. Some of the details were said to be exaggerated or simply created for the book, but Fiennes released the names of the victims and released specific details. It led to a fairly contentious release when the book came out in 1991.
But regardless of whether or not it is 100-percent accurate, it is a movie about two special forces groups fighting a private war, starring Jason Statham, Clive Owen and Robert De Niro. The potential for the movie to be awesome is there even if it turns out that a madman made the whole story up to impress an ex-girlfriend. Besides, when it comes to Hollywood, people are used to a fairly big divide between truth and what you see on screen.
The film is directed by Academy Award Winner Gary McKendry, who directed the Best Live Action Short Film of 2005, Everything in This Country Must. Killer Elite hits theaters on September 23.
