Paramount & Scott Rudin Developing Ayatolllah

Paramount and producer Scott Rudin have made a deal to adapt Guests of the Ayatollah, a book about the Iran hostage crisis that will be written by Black Hawk Down author Mark Bowden.

The studio and producer will use it to make the first studio film about the crisis that occurred when Iranian students stormed the American embassy in 1979 and held its staff hostage for 444 days. Bowden, who spent five years researching, is writing the book, to be published by Atlantic Grove in 2005.

The crisis hobbled the administration of President Jimmy Carter, whose attempts to free them led to a disastrous rescue attempt. The standoff didn't end until a day after the inauguration of Ronald Reagan in January 1981; the remaining 52 hostages were freed after the U.S. unfroze $8 billion in Iranian assets. The film will concentrate on the hostages and how they survived such prolonged captivity.