'storm' Breaking At Di Bona Prods.

Vin Di Bona Prods. has acquired feature film rights to "Storm on the Horizon," former Marine Infantry officer David Morris' soldier's-eye view of one of the most intense battles of the Persian Gulf War.

The deal was brokered by Irene Webb Literary on behalf of the book's agent, Agnes Birnbaum of Bleecker Street Associates. The author will be an adviser on the film.

"Popular literature would have you believe that Saudi Arabia was never invaded during the Gulf War," said Di Bona head of development Peter Schankowitz, who will be developing the project with Vin Di Bona and documentary filmmaker Michael Schlossman. "But this battle takes place in the Gulf War, where a motley crew of soldiers held off a major army. It's a great story."

Vin De Bona Prods. has focused primarily on television — from TV movies to alternative and reality TV and animation programming like "Tripping the Rift." The acquisition of "Storm" represents the company's interest in expanding into the feature film business. "We are storytellers branching out into longer-form storytelling," Schankowitz said. "We are breaking into the market and looking for properties that speak to us."

De Bona recently served as executive producer on "The Long Weekend" with Chris Klein. "Storm on the Horizon" was published by Free Press in February.