Haggis to Direct Enemies

Fresh from his best picture win for Crash, director Paul Haggis is in final negotiations to direct and produce Against All Enemies for Columbia Pictures, according to Variety.

Haggis will either tackle the political drama next or after another directing project first. Either way, he will supervise screenwriter James Vanderbilt (who also wrote The Rundown), who is penning a second draft of the script. Haggis is currently writing Death and Dishonor for Warner Brothers, which he is also attached to helm.

Based on Richard A. Clarke’s bestselling memoir, Against All Enemies chronicles how the Bush administration handled the al-Qaida threat before and after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. 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 and Donald Rumsfeld.

The book was published in 2004 and hit No. 1 on the New York Times bestseller list, fueling intense criticism over the administration’s security failures and its decision to go to war with Iraq.

John Calley is producing the flick, while Len Sherman is executive producing, for Sony and Columbia Pictures.