Orlando Bloom and Scott Eastwood have signed up to play two heroes of the war in Afghanistan in “The Outpost,” adapted from CNN host Jake Tapper’s 673-page complete history of the legendary Combat Outpost Keating, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The announcement comes six months after Deadline reported that “Red Platoon,” the memoir by Medal of Honor recipient and former Staff Sgt. Clint Romesha, would enter the canon of Global War on Terror films.
Both movies revolve around COP Keating, a fishbowl of a base at the bottom of three mountains in Nuristan province, built in 2006 to help stem the flow of Taliban fighters between Afghanistan and Pakistan, while supporting Provincial Reconstruction Teams in local public works projects.
It was named for 1st Lt. Ben Keating, 27, who had been stationed there and died in a vehicle rollover that year. He will be played by Orlando Bloom, 41, in “The Outpost.”
Scott Eastwood, 32, will play Romesha in “The Outpost,” while Casey Affleck has been cast as Romesha in “Red Platoon,” according to the film’s Internet Movie Database page.
Caleb Landry Jones, 28, will play former Staff Sgt. Ty Carter, also a Medal of Honor recipient, in “The Outpost.” The movie is set to begin production later this summer, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
Both films will culminate in the Battle of Kamdesh, which took place Oct. 3, 2009, as the cavalry scouts of B Troop, 3rd Squadron, 61st Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, prepared to close COP Keating after three years of near-constant battle and little progress made in the nearby villages.
That morning, a force of 300 to 400 fighters launched an attack on the outpost, eventually overrunning the soldiers and killing eight of the 50 men living there.
Romesha received a Medal of Honor for his actions in 2013, and Carter followed in 2014.
Meghann Myers is the Pentagon bureau chief at Military Times. She covers operations, policy, personnel, leadership and other issues affecting service members.
