John Krasinski To Lead Michael Bay's Benghazi Film '13 Hours'

Well here's a surprise.

Last year, news came out the director Michael Bay (Transformers franchise) would be helming a film about the true accounts of what happened in Benghazi, Libya on September 11th, 2012.  This was a story that gained national news and criticism due to the 'unclear facts' of how and what caused terrorists to attack a U.S. Special Mission Compound near a CIA Annex that left a handful of Americans dead.

Now word has come out that none other than Jim from The Office - John Krasinksi - will be headlining the film, likely to shoot sometime this year.  The actor apparently - no pun intended - blew Bay away with his reading (Guardians of the Galaxy star Chris Pratt was originally eyed for the part).

However, the role Krasinski will be playing isn't clearly known.

Variety reports Kransinksi will be playing a NAVY Seal in the flick (which would certainly be an against type for the often thought of 'comedic' actor), while The Hollywood Reporter states he'll be playing a security operator named Jack Silva.

Whatever the case may be, this certainly marks as a breakthrough role for the actor who has been venturing towards more dramatic work recently with roles in both 2012's Promised Land and Nobody Walks.

As for Michael Bay, well, let's just see if the man can direct a straight up dramatic thriller and avoid his usual flare for explosions and teenage, comedic undertones.  A film about terrorism certainly calls for a more 'serious approach'.

Chuck Hogan - an American author who wrote Prince of Thieves: A Novel which the 2010 film The Town was based - wrote the script, an adaptation of Mitchell Zuckoff's book Thirteen Hours: A Firsthand Account of What Really Happened in Benghazi.  Paramount Pictures acquired the rights to the book last February, before it was even published.

We'll keep you posted on more developments with this project.

Source: Variety, The Hollywood Reporter