FX has secured the rights to an acclaimed Los Angeles Times series called “Green Card Marines,” which it intends to develop into a three-hour movie.
Moctesuma Esparza is attached to executive produce through Esparza-Katz Productions, which he runs with partner Robert Katz. Mr. Esparza’s credits include “Selena,” “Gettysburg” and “Introducing Dorothy Dandridge.”
Published last May, the four-part series profiled noncitizen U.S. soldiers who died fighting in Iraq. About 37,000 noncitizens are currently enlisted in the U.S. military.
“The newspaper articles were just so compelling about these young men and women who risked and gave their lives for their adopted country,” Mr. Esparza said. “There is a raging controversy about undocumented immigrants, yet there have always been undocumented immigrants giving their lives for this country.”
Each article in the Times told the story of a single solider. For the FX project, the stories of three soldiers will be intertwined throughout the movie. Times series co-author Robert J. Lopez will write the screenplay.
FX declined to comment.