Spielberg passes on Navy SEAL book amid Pentagon scrutiny

Sorry patriotic moviegoers, you'll have to settle for two well-financed movies about killing Osama bin Laden instead of three. Last night, Steven Spielberg's spokesman denied that either Spielberg or his DreamWorks production company are in talks to make a movie based on the upcoming book No Easy Day by Matt Bissonnette, a former Navy SEAL who participated in the raid. "Neither Steven Spielberg, DreamWorks Studios or DreamWorks Television will be optioning Mark Owen's book, No Easy Day,” said spokesman Marvin Levy, according to The Hollywood Reporter's Gregg Kilday.

The denial follows a report in The New York Post Saturday that Owen (the pen name for Bissonnette) was currently in talks with Spielberg and DreamWorks as well as HBO. Levy gives no indication for why Spielberg isn't interested in the project but the denial follows a Monday report by The Associated Press' Kimberly Dozier that the book is coming under scrutiny from Pentagon and the CIA, which have just received their copies and are riffling through it in search of unauthorized disclosures of classified information. The book will not be submitted to the Defense Department prior to its Sept 11 release date, which may be a violation of Pentagon policy. Bissonnette reportedly signed a non-disclosure agreement while he served as a Navy SEAL requiring him to submit all manuscripts related to classified missions. As a result, he could facesevere legal ramifications.

Read more at The Atlantic Wire.