KRU Studios plans a new version of Black Hawk Down

KRU Studios is planning to produce another version of the Hollywood movie, Black Hawk Down and the battle that took place 20 years ago on the streets of Mogadishu, Somalia — this time, from the perspective of the Malaysian soldiers who were there on that day.

Its executive president, Norman Abdul Halim revealed that the plan is at development stage and research might start soon.

"We have yet to engage with any third party outside the studio. We are doing our research to position the actual incidents from the eyes of the Malaysian troops (who were involved in the battle)," he said in a telephone interview with Astro AWANI.

According to Norman, the storyline is yet to be titled project and efforts to get in touch with the Ministry of Defence are still being discussed.

"If we find third parties that we can work with and the project has potential, we will definitely pursue it. But the plan is there,” he added.

Black Hawk Down was directed by the award winning director, Ridley Scott and adapted from a book of similar title written by Mark Bowden.

While the film has received several accolades especially for its sound editing and positively reviewed by the critics, the Somalis and the international soldiers who were there during the battle dismissed the movie for its inaccuracies.

The film for example largely ignored the contributions of the international forces who were serving under the United Nations Operation in Somalia II (UNOSOM II) including our own 19th Battalion Royal Malay Regiment (Mechanised).

In the battle, Lance Corporal Mat Aznan Awang was killed after the armoured personnel vehicle he was driving during the mission to rescue the American rangers, was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade. Nine of his brothers in arms were injured.

The Somali militias had earlier shot down two UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters during an assault by the US soldiers in the operation to hunt down the self-proclaimed president-to-be Mohamed Farrah Aidid.

Mat Aznan was posthumously awarded Seri Pahlawan Gagah Perkasa, the highest decoration of the Malaysian Armed Forces, for his "supreme courage and bravery in extraordinary and highly dangerous situations".

Norman revealed the plan in reaction to Astro AWANI readers who have suggested that the heroic stories of the Malaysian forces in Mogadishu 20 years ago should be told to the younger generation who are misled by the Hollywood movie.

Astro AWANI on Wednesday reported that a documentary on the Battle of Mogadishu is currently being developed by the filmmaker Ahmad Yazid Ahmad Puad of Rack Focus Films to set the record straight, as far as The Black Hawk Down was concerned.

“If everything goes well, the documentary will hit local cinemas towards the end of next year,” said Ahmad Yazid.

Norman added that KRU Studios is interested to produce patriotic movies but they would not necessarily be historical films.

Citing Hollywood movie Independence Day as an example, he said that the sense of pride and belonging to the nation could be told using any story including "a story about aliens" and comedy or musical.

"Patriotic movie doesn't have to be all melodrama, focusing only on Merdeka (Independence), highlighting political figures or what have happened in the last 50 years," he said.

He believes that a fictional movie is more interesting and challenging to a filmmaker and it is wrong to say that the film would be less patriotic.

"The only problem is, in Malaysia, a story of aliens like 'Independence Day’ is a bit foreign to us as we are closer to ‘hantu’ (ghost).

“We are waiting for the public and the authority to be a little bit more open on how we angle a story and engage the audience,” Norman said.

KRU Studios is a movie and music production company founded by Norman and his brothers, Yusry and Edry Halim.

Their latest production, Vikingdom: The Blood Eclipse is reported to have secured RM10mil in box-office sales overseas. It opened in the United States, Australia and New Zealand this week.

The big budget fantasy is based on Viking legends. Directed by Yusri, the film features Hollywood cast and local production crew.