Michael Bay to direct film based on US military rescue mission in Iran

Michael Bay is set to direct a military drama based on the recent rescue of two US crew members who crashed in Iran.

According to Deadline, the director of action films such as Armageddon and Transformers will work with Universal Pictures to bring the story to the screen. In April, two soldiers were rescued after their fighter jet was downed, something Donald Trump called “one of most daring search-and-rescue operations in US history”.

In a statement, Bay says the film will celebrate “the true heroism and unwavering dedication of our service members”.

The as-yet-untitled project will be based on a book by Mitchell Zuckoff to be released in 2027. Zuckoff’s book 13 Hours, about the attack on an American compound in Benghazi, was previously turned into a movie by Bay in 2016.

The film starred John Krasinski and became one of Bay’s lowest-grossing films. In a two-star review, the Guardian’s Peter Bradshaw wrote that it was “like playing Call of Duty for 72 hours straight – only without the subtlety and insight”.

During his presidential campaign at the time, Trump showed his support of the movie by renting out a cinema so his supporters could watch it for free.

Bay’s most recent film, the Jake Gyllenhaal-led action thriller Ambulance, was a box office disappointment back in 2022. He was set to direct a Will Smith action vehicle in 2024 but a year later the project fell apart over of creative differences between the pair, who had previously worked on Bad Boys and its first sequel.