'Braveheart' Writer Randall Wallace To Direct 'The Conscientious Objector'

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by Joe Cunningham
May 30, 2012 9:43 AM
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Oscar nominated back in 1996 for his "Braveheart" script, but Razzie nominated six years later for writing "Pearl Harbor," it's probably fair to say that Randall Wallace writes a particular type of Hollywood script with varying levels of success. In the role of director, however, his films are much more reliably mediocre. His three efforts behind the camera -- "The Man in the Iron Mask," "We Were Soldiers" and "Secretariat" -- are all fairly competent, if far from thrilling films, so it's kinda hard to get excited about a new Randall Wallace picture.

Wallace has signed to direct the awfully titled "The Conscientious Objector" for Walden Media. The film will again see Wallace mine the second World War for the big screen, and will tell the story of Desmond Doss who was a medic and the first conscientious objector (he became a medic because he refused to carry a weapon in combat) to win the Congressional Medal of Honor.

"Get Low" director Aaron Schneider had originally been attached to the project, but Wallace seems like a much more natural fit to us. The script was written by a Pulitzer Prize winner in the form of Robert Schenkkan, but hey, so was "John Carter," and we all know how that turned out. He also penned episodes of "The Pacific" and "The Quiet American." It all sounds fairly average to us, but we're totally willing to be won over by it when it makes its way to theatres. You won't find many people excited about it until then though. [The Wrap]