Pilot slowly recovering after plane crash on set of tom cruise movie mena. Slain drug smuggler barry seals daughter sues to halt movie on her fathers life. Barry seal was killed after revealing his involvement in flying cargo planes loaded with drugs for the cia into the famous mena arkansas 10,000 foot rural runway during governor clintons term. Barry seal, a twa pilot, is recruited by the cia to provide reconnaissance on the burgeoning communist threat in central america and soon finds himself in charge of one of the. According to hahns book, rumors of seals involvement with the cia anytime.
The charmed, doomed life of barry seal consortiumnews. Two weeks after his argument with vice president ghw bush, barry seal was pumped full of bullets and murdered outside his baton rouge halfway house on feb. Drug smuggler barry seals family argues in baton rouge court. Could the assassinations and scandals that rocked america in the 60s and 70s have been perpetrated by the same people who caused the cocaine epidemic that swept this nation during the 1980s.
We was caught and became an informant for the dea while he continued to run operations for the cia. Seals exploits brought him into close contact with infamous figures like medellin cartel kingpins pablo escobar and jorge ochoa and. American made is a lighthearted take on the life and crimes of barry seal, an extwa pilot who became a smuggler for the medellin cartel, but later testified against them. Family of murdered drug smuggler sue universal over tom. The mysteries of mena revolve around a drugsmuggling pilot named barry seal. However, the film in not entirely faithful to seals life, and adds many fictional facts. Despite what the movie american made 2017 wants its spectators to believe, seal did not have one wife throughout his life. If you happened to be traveling along a swampy, mosquitoinfested route. Quirky seal, quiet arkansas town drew american made. Kun san, the infamous drug warlord of the iron triangle testified of this openlythat his major client was the cia and he could name names.
In the movie, tom cruise portrays seal, the man who almost got away. Seal was born in baton rouge, louisiana on july 16, 1939. The film tells the story of barry seal tom cruise, a twa pilot who is recruited by the cia to give recognition against the emerging communist threat in central america. Tom cruises mena movie pushed to fall 2017, gets new. The real barry seal was married three times and had five children. Aug 08, 2016 american made is based on the outrageous and reallife exploits of barry seal, a hustler and pilot who was unexpectedly recruited by the cia to run one of the biggest covert operations in u. Barry seal, the deas most important informant, had helped, indirectly, to blow the irancontra affair wide open with his photograph. Oct 02, 2017 the real barry seal was married three times and had five children. In the movie, in return for his get out of jail free card, schafer wants seal to fly ak47s out of mena to the contras, the insurgent group tasked with overthrowing the sandinistas, the leftwing.
Oct 02, 2017 and when barry seal turned against them, they simply had him gunned down in baton rouge, louisiana. Oct 02, 2017 american made hits all the right plot beats to become the first bonafide tom cruise movie weve gotten in a long time, but it neglects to include any deeds that make barry seem more. The satirical look at the life of barry seal, who made a lucrative career being a cocaine and gun runner in the 1980s, once featured a scene where bill clinton is found in a arkansas strip club. Drug smuggler barry seals family argues in baton rouge court over contract with movie studio to film story of his life barry seals family argue over film rights in br court by joe gyan jr. This past weekend, the hollywood version of what pilot and drug runner barry seal did for the cia in the 1980s, opened in movie theaters across the country.
Actor tom cruise and the reallife barry seal, the subject of the movie, american made. The film was originally titled mena and in 2014 was featured on the black list, a survey showcasing the best unproduced screenplays in hollywood. Barry seal, an airline pilot, is recruited by the cia to fly special transport missions in central america. Feb 22, 2016 drug smuggler barry seals family argues in baton rouge court over contract with movie studio to film story of his life barry seals family argue over film rights in br court by joe gyan jr. The estate of the drug smugglerturnedfederal informant adler barry seal did not agree to sell the movie rights to his life, and his oldest daughter wants a state judge to. Ron howard is attached to direct gary spinellis spec script mena, which is based on the true story of gunrunner and drugtrafficker barry seal. Drug smuggler barry seals family argues in baton rouge. American made sheds light on shady arkansas airfield deals by john crudele. Oct 03, 2017 tom cruise left stars as barry seal in the new movie american made. Seal is in charge of a major cia covert operation in us history, a feat that led the medellin cartel and brought embarrassment to the reagan white house because of the iran. Barry seals daughter attempts to boycott tom cruisestarring. Initially it is a matter of informationforsupplies but ultimately he ends up being a drug transporter for pablo escobar and the medellin cartel and supplying anticommunist groups, including the nicaraguan contras, with weapons.
See the results of a threeyear investigation into the life and times of one of the most famous cia agents and successful drug smugglers in americas history barry seal. Oct 16, 2015 tom cruise is scheduled to play seal in the movie mena, which is set for release in theaters in 2017. Lisa seal frigon has filed a lawsuit in baton rouge district court, saying the life story rights were sold without court approval or the estates consent, reported ace showbiz. American made trailer 2017 tom cruise movie youtube. But more importantly, his photographs had made pablo escobar a wanted criminal and ultimately played an important part in the drug kingpins downfall in 1993. Toward the end of the movie, seal cruise has been picked up by. The film is produced by imagine entertainments academy awardwinning producer brian grazer a beautiful mind, cross creek pictures. American made is the latest so crazy, it must be real story to hit hollywood in the form of a major action movie.
In the movie, seal is an ace pilot whose daredevil streak leads him from twa to the cia. According to author del hahn, who wrote the book smugglers end, next to barry s yearbook photo was the description, full of fun, full of folly time. What did american made leave out about the real barry seal. Mena, arkansas barry seal tom cruise comes into town to make a phone call that cant be bugged or traced. With tom cruise, domhnall gleeson, sarah wright, jesse plemons. Sep 28, 2017 american made is the latest so crazy, it must be real story to hit hollywood in the form of a major action movie. The crazy reallife drug smuggler behind american made. A racy scene involving bill clinton was cut from the new. In fact, in early 1986 barry seal was threatening ghw bush to get the irs off his back or he seal was going to blow the whistle on the contra scheme and cia drug smuggling. The story of barry seal, an american pilot who became a.
And when barry seal turned against them, they simply had him gunned down in baton rouge, louisiana. American made stars cruise as reallife american pilot and hustler barry seal. Fact, fiction collide in movie based on the barry seal story. Tom cruise left stars as barry seal in the new movie american made.
I havent seen cruises movie but it does bring up one of the most unusual drug lords america ever sort of knew. Universal is pushing back the release of tom cruisestarrer mena from jan. Seal later set up his own flight operations base at a remote airport in tiny mena, arkansas using several airplanes equipped with stateoftheart radar and encrypted communication systems. American made stars tom cruise as barry seal, a reallife former airline pilot who embarked on a wildly successful cocaine smuggling operation between colombia and a tiny airstrip in mena, arkansas, in the 1980s. As a teen, he showed great skill as a pilot, even earning his regular pilots license at age 16, according to. Sep 29, 2017 the movie even suggests that the cia helped set seal up with his very own airport in the small town of mena, ark.
Titusville man recounts life with barry seal, played by. He was murdered in 1986 by contract killers hired by the medellin cartel. Aceshowbiz the daughter of drug smuggler adler barry seal is attempting to boycott a universal picture movie based on her fathers life. Titusville man recounts life with barry seal, played by tom. Why was the movies title changed from mena to american made. Sep 29, 2017 in the movie, in return for his get out of jail free card, schafer wants seal to fly ak47s out of mena to the contras, the insurgent group tasked with overthrowing the sandinistas, the leftwing. Ron howard to direct mena based on the true story of gun.
Tom cruises mena movie pushed to fall 2017, gets new title. If you go see the film, there are some things you should keep in mind, as hollywood is prone to. Jun 28, 2018 clinton body count epstein suicided mena iran contra barry seal medellin part 3 railroad murders duration. Jun 05, 2017 american made previously known as mena is an upcoming biographical criminal dramathriller film directed by doug liman, written by gary spinelli, and starring tom cruise. Barry seals daughter attempts to boycott tom cruise. It is inspired by the life of barry seal, a former twa pilot who flew missions for. In 1983, the dea arrested him on drug smuggling charges. Barry seal was a ballsy and confident risk taker, who rarely acknowledged the possibility of failure, and thats just how tom cruise portrays him in the american made movie. Slain drug smuggler barry seals daughter sues to halt movie. Barry seal was a talented pilot who worked for twa during his 20s. The movie is a dutifully sanitized version of some of the illegal smuggling activities of the cia operative, adler berriman seal aka barry seal, who flew in and out of the intermountain municipal airport, located in mena, arkansas, both when bill clinton was the attorney general of arkansas and when he was residing in the governors mansion.
Seal flipped, becoming a valuable government informant. Clinton body count epstein suicided mena iran contra barry. The daughter of drug smuggler adler barry seal is attempting to boycott universal pictures mena starring tom cruise, which is based on her fathers life. Jul 10, 2011 the key thing to remember is that barry seal was a long time cia agent and a long time drug smuggler who worked out of mena, arkansas. American made is a 2017 american action comedy film directed by doug liman, written by gary spinelli, and starring tom cruise, domhnall gleeson, sarah wright, alejandro edda, mauricio mejia, caleb landry jones, and jesse plemons. Cruise will play louisianaborn smuggler adler b seal, known as barry, in the biopic mena, set in the 1980s and directed by doug liman, who also directed the star in edge of tomorrow. The movie, originally titled mena, stars tom cruise as adler berriman barry seal, a rotund baton rouge native who put mena on the map for all the wrong reasons. If you happened to be traveling along a swampy, mosquitoinfested route between baton rouge and. And while his movie wife was aware of barrys illegal activities, his real wife insists she was kept in the dark about her. The story is based on the life of barry seal, twa pilot turned drug and gun runner for the cia in what would eventually be known as the irancontra its rather surprising that american made isnt a particularly good movie given the combination of its subject matter, star, and director. It is inspired by the life of barry seal, a former twa pilot who flew missions for the cia, and became a drug smuggler for the medellin cartel in the 1980s.
In order to avoid some of the attention, seal moved his aircraft to mena intermountain regional airport in mena, arkansas, where he did. Barry seal is back in the news thanks to tom cruises latest movie american made. Cruise will play louisianaborn smuggler adler b seal, known as barry, in the biopic mena, set in the 1980s and directed by doug liman, who also directed the. Jul 22, 2019 the mysteries of mena revolve around a drugsmuggling pilot named barry seal. When seal was convicted of smuggling charges, he became an informant for the drug enforcement administration and testified in several major drug trials. Barry seals daughter to boycott tom cruise film mena. Adler berriman barry seal july 16, 1939 february 19, 1986 was a commercial airline pilot. Jeb bush and the 1986 murder of cia drug smuggler barry seal. American made previously known as mena is an upcoming biographical criminal dramathriller film directed by doug liman, written by gary spinelli, and. Clinton body count epstein suicided mena iran contra barry seal medellin part 3 railroad murders duration.
According to author del hahn, who wrote the book smugglers end, next to barrys yearbook. Both at barrys antics and at the awardscaliber movie american made could have been. Mena refers to the small town in arkansas where barry seal moved his operation, smuggling in. American made hits all the right plot beats to become the first bonafide tom cruise movie weve gotten in a long time, but it neglects to include any deeds that make barry seem more. American made is based on the outrageous and reallife exploits of barry seal, a hustler and pilot who was unexpectedly recruited by the cia to run one of the biggest covert operations in u. The story of barry seal, an american pilot who became a drugrunner for the cia in the 1980s in a clandestine operation that would be exposed as the irancontra affair. Barry seal tom cruise is accosted by narcotics kingpin jorge ochoa alejandro edda in doug limans american made, the story of the menabased smuggler. The film stars tom cruise as barry seal, a pilot, turned drug runner, turned dea. He was delivering arms to the contras and returned with drugs as payment. The key thing to remember is that barry seal was a long time cia agent and a long time drug smuggler who worked out of mena, arkansas. Adler berriman barry seal july 16, 1939 february 19, 1986 was a commercial airline pilot who became a major drug smuggler for the medellin cartel. Oct 16, 2015 cruise will play louisianaborn smuggler adler b seal, known as barry, in the biopic mena, set in the 1980s and directed by doug liman, who also directed the star in edge of tomorrow. The cia sets up a contra training base in mena and seal flies the contras in. And once i started researching cias involvement in mena, the same name kept popping up, was this barry seal character.
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