One assumes this was already in the works, but the massive surprise box office of Clint Eastwood’s American Sniper surely encouraged Harvey Weinstein to get going on this 5-night miniseries based on The Reaper: Autobiography of One of the Deadliest Special Ops Snipers by Nicholas Irving.
Nicholas Irving, known as “The Reaper” to his fellow soldiers, was the first African American sniper (I’m going to go out on a limb and assume it’s not going to be called African American Sniper) in the U.S. Army 3rd Ranger Battalion, the elite special operations commando unit originally formed in 1943 and involved Afghanistan and Iraq as a part of 2003’s Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom respectively. With 33 kills, Irving is known as the 3rd Rangers’ deadliest snipers.
In a statement, Harvey Weinstein plays the patriot card because he knows it could equal ratings and money: “Nick Irving’s true bravery and heroism will make for some of the most riveting television ever seen and inspire patriotism in anyone who experiences it.”
Irving recently appeared on an episode of The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore as part of a panel discussion on American Sniper.
via: THR
