In a highly competitive situation, Tim and Trevor White’s Star Thrower Entertainment has acquired rights to the critically-acclaimed new novel The Most Dangerous Man in America by Bill Minutaglio & Steven L. Davis, with the intention of developing into a limited series.
Based on freshly uncovered primary sources and new firsthand interviews, The Most Dangerous Man in America follows Timothy Leary's daring prison escape and run from the law in 1970. Aided by the Weather Underground, Leary's prison break was the counterculture's union of "dope and dynamite," aimed at sparking a revolution and overthrowing the government. The ensuing global manhunt, led by President Nixon who branded Leary "the most dangerous man in America," spanned twenty-eight months and wound its way among homegrown radicals, European aristocrats, a Black Panther outpost in Algeria, an international arms dealer, hash-smuggling hippies from the Brotherhood of Eternal Love, and secret agents on four continents, culminating in one of the trippiest journeys through the American counterculture.
"We are thrilled to be working with Bill and Steven, whose in-depth research and compelling writing tells the story of one of the great manhunts of the twentieth century involving so many of the political and cultural icons of the time,” said Star Thrower's Tim and Trevor White. “The events and themes of this story remain incredibly relevant today and we look forward to putting together a package that will be attractive to buyers.”
Star Thrower Entertainment production head Allan Mandelbaum discovered the project early on and brought it into the company.
Bill Minutaglio is former Professor of Journalism at the University of Texas and spent 18 years at The Dallas Morning News as a senior writer and columnist, where he traveled with the Sandinista Army, reported on the tearing down of the Berlin Wall and filed stories about the end of the Marcos regime in Manila. He’s written a number of critically acclaimed and bestselling novels, including First Son: George W. Bush & The Bush Family Dynasty and City on Fire.
Steven L. Davis is a PEN USA award-winning author of several books that focus on iconoclasts in America. He is a past president of the Texas Institute of Letters, founded in 1936 with an elected membership consisting of the state’s most respected writers. His other critically acclaimed books include J. Frank Dobie: A Liberated Mind and Texas Literary Outlaws: Six Writers in the Sixties and Beyond.
Star Thrower’s recent slate includes: Steven Spielberg’s Academy Award nominated The Post, a script they developed with writer Liz Hannah; Matt Spicer’s Indie spirit award-winning Ingrid Goes West; Taylor Sheridan’s critically acclaimed Wind River; and Rob Reiner's LBJ. The company is producing “Mercury 13” for Amazon, where they are re-teaming with The Post collaborators Amy Pascal, Bradley Whitford and Liz Hannah, and is in post-production on Villains with Bill SkarsgΓ₯rd, Maika Monroe, Kyra Sedgwick and Jeffrey Donova. 8bb74951a61f07577687384a697e5e952db0a7a00a928b77db