Do you foresee a market for some kind of human interest
story with September 11 as a backdrop, or will this "day of infamy" be
completely off limits?
–Robert Baker
As many people have pointed out, both Pearl Harbor and the Titanic were real-life
tragedies before they became blockbusters, so never say never. But I’d be surprised
if any major movie deals directly with the World Trade Center attack, at least
in the near future.
The biggest difference between what happened in New York and what happened
in Pearl Harbor or on the Titanic is that every American actually saw the planes
smashing into the towers. Because of television, we all watched as the buildings
fell, and knew we were watching thousands of people die in front of us. We’re
all traumatized witnesses. Personally, I can’t imagine trying to re-create
that horror, since it’s so indelibly marked on all of us.
You’re more likely to see movies that deal with the perimeter of the event:
either inspirational stories about people coping with loss, or dramas focusing
on the hijackers’ lives within the U.S. I’m certain there are interesting and
worthy movies to make that involve some of the events of September 11. The
challenge is to find compelling stories that don’t simply milk the tragedy.