The 12 boys rescued from a Thai cave were passed “sleeping” on stretchers through the treacherous passageways, a former Thai Navy SEAL told AFP on July 11, giving the first clear details of an astonishing rescue mission that has captivated the world. / AFP PHOTO / ROYAL THAI NAVY / Handout
LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — The mission to rescue 12 boys and their soccer coach from a Thai cave is to get the Hollywood treatment in a movie announced by faith-based production house Pure Flix.
Managing partner Michael Scott, who lives in Thailand and was at the rescue site in Chiang Rai as the boys were being pulled to safety, made the announcement late Tuesday on Twitter.
“I couldn’t be more excited. This story has meant so much to me as I have followed it in Thailand this summer,” he said in a video filmed at the scene of the flooded cave in the country’s north.
“My wife actually grew up with the Thai Navy SEAL that died in the cave. To see all that heroic bravery in the cave, and to get all the divers out, it’s just such a touching event and so personal to me.”
Stunning video footage emerged Wednesday of several of the “Wild Boars” team — aged 11 to 16 — being freed from the Tham Luang cave on stretchers, ending a successful three-day rescue.
They are in good physical and mental health, say doctors, despite a harrowing 18 days inside the dank, dark cave before a risky rescue operation that was dubbed “Mission: Impossible”.
Scott’s wife has been involved with planning the funeral for Saman Kunan, the former SEAL that died on July 6 while helping install oxygen tanks in preparation for the extraction.
“We’re here really looking at this as a movie that could inspire millions of people across the globe,” Scott added.
“And we’re here witnessing the events, gathering some contacts and everything, to really tell a story about an international effort, the entire world coming together to save (12) kids trapped in this Thai cave.”
Pure Flix co-founder David A.R. White told The Wall Street Journal the company — which was behind the 2014-18 “God’s Not Dead” trilogy — was talking to actors, writers and potential investors.
“Pure Flix joins the rest of the world in thanking God for answering prayers for the successful rescue of those trapped in the cave in Thailand,” the company said in a statement.
© Agence France-Presse