Crash' director eyeing timely terrorist thriller: based on Clarke's memoir [View All]

Hot off his best picture win for "Crash," Paul Haggis is in final negotiations to direct and produce "Against All Enemies," a project based on Richard A. Clarke's best-selling memoir chronicling the Bush administration's handling of terrorist threats.

Clarke, a former U.S. terrorism czar, offers the ultimate insider's account into the nation's security apparatus, featuring a cast of power brokers that includes President Bush, Condoleezza Rice, Donald Rumsfeld and himself. The book was published by Free Press in March 2004 and hit No. 1 on the New York Times best-seller list, fueling intense criticism over the administration's security failures and its decision to go to war with Iraq.

It is unclear whether Haggis will tackle Columbia Pictures' hot-button political drama next or sandwich in another directing project first. Either way, he will initially supervise scribe James Vanderbilt ("The Rundown"), who is penning a second draft of "Enemies." Haggis is currently writing "Death and Dishonor" for Warner Bros. Pictures, which he is attached to direct.

In addition to nabbing a best picture Oscar for producing "Crash," Haggis also won a statuette for writing the film's original screenplay with Bobby Moresco. His producing credits also include last year's best picture winner, "Million Dollar Baby," which he adapted.

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