Doug Liman Directing Attica! Attica! Attica! Movie

Director Doug Liman and "Precious" scribe Geoffrey Fletcher are joining forces on a movie about the notorious 1971 prison uprising at Attica.

Liman himself broke the news more than three weeks ago on his blog at 30 Ninjas, first spotted by In Contention, with a post about a trip he and Fletcher made to the upstate New York facility.

The project is particularly close to Liman, as his father, Arthur Liman, was appointed to investigate what exactly happened in cell block Z, where the most hardened criminals were kept and where the riot that killed 39 people, mostly guards, began.

"This is how our guide put it: when you f--- up you go to prison, when you f---- up in prison they send you to Attica, and when you f--- up in Attica, they send you to cell block z," Liman recounted from his recent tour.

Though Arthur Liman made it very clear that he was on a fact-finding mission, and wasn't there gathering evidence for a prosecution, inmates were understandably wary of the young lawyer, none eager to see murder charges added to the time they were already serving.

Attica is a fascinating moment in America history, and inspired a classic scene from "Dog Day Afternoon." When Liman's on his game ("Swingers," "Bourne Identity") he's as good as anyone, and Fletcher has only one screenwriting credit, but it's a doozy. We'll be keeping an eye on this one.

Toward the end of his visit to Attica, Liman found himself standing a foot from Mark David Chapman, who he says gave him a hello that in one moment managed to convey, “Yes it's me, the famous killer of John Lennon, you’ve seen me, you’ll have a great story to tell your friends, now f--- off and leave me in peace” all in one gesture and one hello."

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