United 93: The Shooting Script (Newmarket Shooting Scripts)

From the director of The Bourne Supremacy and Bloody Sunday — the only book on the making of the landmark film that re-creates in real time the events on 9/11 involving the passengers, crew, and flight controllers before and during the crash of United Flight 93.

At what point is it okay to put such a painful time on the screen? According to Greengrass — informed with interviews from more than 100 family members and friends of the fallen passengers and crew — the right time is when the families say "yes," which they all did. "Forty ordinary people had thirty minutes to confront the reality of the way that we're living now, decide on the best course of action and act...they were the first people to inhabit the post-9/11 world," writes Greengrass in the treatment he wrote explaining why and how he wanted to make this movie.

This Newmarket Shooting Script® Book includes:

• Initial treatment by Paul Greengrass
• Complete shooting script
• Q&A with Paul Greengrass
• "9/11 Live" by Michael Bronner
• Film reviews by Martin Amis, Peter Bradshaw, David Denby, and Stephen King
• 38 color stills and behind-the-scenes photos
• List of Flight 93's crew and passengers
• Complete cast and crew credits

"United 93 is honorably and artful as a re-creation of history. And as a film experience it's both unbearable and unmissable. As for the United 93 passengers — in movie terms, and in the life of the world — they are the first heroes of the 21st century." Richard Corliss, Time

"United 93 is one to put on the same shelf with The Godfather. It seems clear that this painful subject has spurred at least one director — Paul Greengrass — to the best work of his life." Stephen King, Entertainment Weekly

"It's a mark of Greengrass' unequaled gift for believably re-creating reality that, once seen, it's impossible to get United 93 out of your mind." Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times

"This is a masterful and heartbreaking film, and it does honor to the memory of the victims." Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

At what point does it become acceptable to portray such a painful time on the screen? According to writer/director Paul Greengrass—informed with interviews from more than 100 family members and friends of the fallen passengers and crew—the right time is when the families say yes, which they all did. "Forty ordinary people had thirty minutes to confront the reality of the way that we're living now, decide on the best course of action and act . . . they were the first people to inhabit the post-9/11 world," writes Greengrass in his treatment explaining why and how he wanted to make this movie.

The treatment appears in this scriptbook, along with an astonishing article by Michael Bronner about the U.S. Air Force response to the hijacking, film reviews by Martin Amis, Peter Bradshaw, David Denby, and Stephen King, a Q&A with Paul Greengrass, production notes, and more.

Paul Greengrass wrote and directed the critically lauded, documentary-style feature Bloody Sunday as well as the international blockbuster The Bourne Supremacy. His other credits include Omagh, The Murder of Stephen Lawrence, The Fix, The Theory of Flight, and Resurrected. He has also written and directed many documentaries including the official Live Aid documentary, Food, Trucks and Rock and Roll. He lives in England.