Robert Pattinson to Hunt Down Saddam Hussein in Mission: Black List

Twilight star Robert Pattinson has signed on to play military investigator Eric Maddox — the man who spearheaded the capture of Saddam Hussein — in a new psychological thriller titled Mission: Black List.

Along with co-author Davin Seay, Staff Sergeant Eric Maddox revealed the behind-the-scenes story of the hunt for Saddam in the 2008 book Mission: Black List #1: The Inside Story of the Search for Saddam Hussein — As Told by the Soldier Who Masterminded His Capture. Writer/producer Erik Jendresen (Band of Brothers) will be adapting the book for the screen, and Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire is attached to direct.

Pattinson now joins Zac Efron, Gerard Butler, Sam Worthington, and Taylor Kitsch among major young stars attached to Iraq- or Afghanistan-related projects featuring positive depictions of American soldiers (in this case, a military interrogator, no less). Is a sea change finally here?

Here is how the book is described at Amazon:

Everyone has seen the footage: a heavily bearded Saddam Hussein blinking under the bright lights of infantry cameras, dazed to find himself in U.S. Army custody. Yet while the breaking news was broadcast around the world, the story of the remarkable events leading up to that moment on December 13, 2003 has never before been fully told. Mission: Black List #1 offers the full, behind-the-scenes account of the search for Saddam Hussein, as related by the Army interrogator whose individual courage and sheer determination made the capture possible.

In July of 2003, Staff Sergeant Eric Maddox was deployed to Baghdad alongside intelligence analysts and fellow interrogators. Their assignment was clear: gather actionable intelligence – leads that could be used to launch raids on High Value Targets within the insurgency. But, as Maddox recounts, hunting for the hidden links in the terrorist network would require bold and untested tactics, and the ability to never lose sight of the target, often hiding in plain sight. After months of chasing down leads, following hunches and interrogating literally hundreds of detainees, Sergeant Maddox uncovered crucial details about the insurgency. In his final days in Iraq he closed in on the dictator’s inner circle and, within hours of his departure from the country, pinpointed the precise location of Saddam’s Tikrit spider hole. Maddox’s candid and compelling narrative reveals the logic behind the unique interrogation process he developed, and provides an insider’s look at his psychologically subtle, non-violent methods. The result is a gripping, moment-by-moment account of the historic mission that brought down Black List #1.

Posted on May 2nd, 2012 at 10:09pm.