REGINA — A book about the tragic 1986 bus crash that killed four members of the WHL Swift Current Broncos is going to be made into a movie.
Tri-Light Entertainment has secured the rights to produce a feature film adaptation of the book “Sudden Death: The Incredible Saga of the 1986 Swift Current Broncos,” which was written by former Brandon Sun sports editor Gregg Drinnan.
Saskatchewan writer-director Rob King (“Corner Gas,” “Hungry Hills”) will adapt the book for the screen.
The junior hockey team was on its way to Regina for a game against the Pats on Dec. 30, 1986, when the team bus slid off an overpass on the Trans-Canada Highway just outside Swift Current, Sask., and flipped over.
Trent Kresse, 20, Scott Kruger, 19, Chris Mantyka, 19, and Brent Ruff, 16, were killed. Other players suffered serious injuries.
Tri-Light spokeswoman Holly Baird said the movie will show how the players and the community overcame such a dark moment.
However, Baird said they won’t be able to shoot the film in Saskatchewan because the government killed off the film industry there by cutting the Film Employment Tax Credit last spring.
“Ideally, we’d love to shoot in Swift Current, at the actual locations, in the community and have the community involved; however, as it stands right now, we can’t do any filming here in Saskatchewan, so we are looking to Alberta,” she said.
She said if all goes well, the movie should be out by early 2015.
» The Canadian Press
Republished from the Brandon Sun print edition January 30, 2013
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