Last week, I reported on Aaron Sorkin setting up his next film over at Warner Bros, titled “Shadow Flyers.” This was the first I heard of this project, and it does sound as though it might be Sorkin’s next film. No plot details or casting had been revealed at the time.
Deadline is now confirming that the film will tackle the founding of the Israeli Air Force which has long been credited as one of the crucial reasons why the country has survived and become a major military power since its inception in 1948.
Sorkin will script the story of Al Schwimmer, a post-WWII arms smuggler who helped create Israel’s air superiority, and “helped the fledgling country survive.”
Schwimmer, a decorated World War II veteran from Connecticut, masterminded a covert, illegal, international operation that has been described as “one part Argo and one part Mission: Impossible.” Along the way, he was helped by the likes of Bugsy Siegel’s publicist, mobster Meyer Lansky, Pee-wee Herman’s dad Milton Rubenfeld, and Frank Sinatra.
“Shadow Flyers” is set up to be Sorkin’s third film as a director, his last one was Netflix’s “The Trial of the Chicago 7,” released in 2020, and 2018’s excellent “Molly’s Game.” However, Sorkin is primarily known as a writer first and director second; his most notable credits include “The Social Network,” “Moneyball,” “A Few Good Men” and TV’s “The West Wing.”