Jeremy here...
Earlier today, it was announced that director JC Chandor had departed Mark Wahlberg's DEEPWATER HORIZON project due to ye olde dreaded "creative differences". Initial speculation was that Peter Berg, Wahlberg's LONE SURVIVOR director, was the frontrunner to replace Chandor, and, lo and behold, Deadline is reporting that this is the case.
Matthew Michael Carnahan is writing the screenplay (based on a New York Times article), which will depict the two days leading up to - and the immediate aftermath of - the explosion on the oil rig that killed eleven workers. The film is expected to begin shooting this summer, with September 30, 2016 targeted as the release date. The switch from Chandor to Berg is pretty significant in terms of aesthetic; Chandor has more of a classical style, while Berg favors a frenetic, shoot-for-the-edit approach in the style of Michael Mann. I've no idea what was at the root of the "creative differences", but if Wahlberg wanted a more dynamic director, he just got one. Wahlberg will star as one of the managers of the doomed rig.
