As we could have predicted, the rescued Chilean miners are in negotiations for a book deal, and possibly a movie deal about their harrowing underground adventure. Not that I would begrudge these guys any possible success they can arrange, but I just have a few questions. Well one, really…

What could have possibly happened underground, in darkness, for 60-some-odd days that could hold our attention for the length of a film? Forget “our” attention; let me say there’s nothing about the underground portion of this story that could hold “my” attention for any length of time.

The fascinating, spellbinding story for me is the collective effort and ingenuity of the people on top, who figured out how to drill down there and send down the little capsule thingy to bring the guys out. But the 33 guys down there in the dark, crammed into a little space, figuring out where to go to the bathroom, what to eat, what to talk about, when to sleep, all that stuff – that would get boring to me pretty quickly. As I’m sure it did for the 33 guys involved.

Maybe that’s a good rule of thumb for writing a screenplay based on any true event. If the story was boring for the people who actually experienced it, then it may in fact turn out to be a boring story to tell others. Just a thought.