MH17 plane disaster movie in the works at Dutch banner Revolver Amsterdam

Dutch production company Revolver Amsterdam is developing a feature film about Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 disaster. The passenger jet MH 17, scheduled from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, was shot down by a Soviet-made missile over rebel-held eastern Ukraine in July 2014, killing all 298 people aboard. According to Variety, Revolver has acquired the film adaptation rights of author A F Th. van der Heijden’s novel “Mooi doodliggen” (Play Dead), inspired by the 2014 tragedy.

Dutch filmmaker Rolf van Eijk and screenwriter Roelof Jan Minneboo are attached to develop the project. “The MH17 disaster is etched in our national memory, a national trauma. Making a film about this is not an easy task, but A.F.Th. Van der Heijden’s novel turned out to be the perfect foundation. It paints a striking and highly topical picture of a political world where everyone is a victim. A story that gets under the skin, about fake news, deception and the eternal search for the truth,'' said producers Germen Boelens and Raymond van der Kaaij. Van der Heijden’s is best known for his novel “Tonio,'' about the sudden death of his only child, that won him the Libris Literature Award and the NS Readers’ Prize.