Sony Pictures is set to acquire the rights to the upcoming book Hunting El Chapo: The Thrilling Inside Story of The American Lawman Who Captures The World’s Most-Wanted Drug Lord, written by Cole Merrell and Douglas Century, according to THR. El Chapo, who was recently extradited to the United States, is a Mexican drug lord known for his escapes from prison. He ran the Sinaloa Cartel, and is considered the “most powerful drug trafficker in the world” by the United States Department of the Treasury. He was also ranked as one of the most powerful people in the world by Forbes magazine from 2009-2011.
El Chapo, so named for his short stature, has been captured by the authorities and escaped a number of times. First, he was captured in Guatemala in 1993 and escaped from a maximum-security prison in 2001 by bribing guards. He was arrested in Mexico in 2014 and escaped in 2015 through a tunnel. He was captured a third time in 2016 and extradited to the United States to face criminal charges on January 19, 2017.
3 Arts Entertainment will produce the adaptation of the book. Director Michael Bay is reportedly on the top of the list for directors wanted for the film. There is another project in development that is a fictional version of the El Chapo story based on the book “The Cartel” by Don Winslow in the works at Fox. Ridley Scott will direct.
