Samuel L Jackson keen to play Andrew Mwanguru

Washington, May 08: Hollywood actor Samuel L Jackson is keen to play the lead in a film about Andrew Mwangura, a negotiator between pirates and the owners of vessels hijacked off the coast of Africa.

Jackson’s Uppity Films has already collaborated with Andras Hamori`s H20 Motion Pictures to secure life rights of Mwangura. Mwangura is a journalist and ex-marine engineer who runs the Seafarers` Assistance Programme, a non-profit group that offers humanitarian aid to all seafarers. Hamori flew to Mombassa and negotiated a rights deal as Mwangura brokered the freedom of crew and cargo of the Ukrainian ship VS Faina for 3.4 million dollars. The price was high because the pirates discovered a secret cache of Russian tanks. "(Andrew) has the trust of the pirates and the ship owners, and his loyalty is to the kidnapped crews that get caught in the middle of these episodes," a magazine quoted Hamori as saying. Jackson and Hamori earlier teamed up to produce ‘Formula 51’, and are currently in pre-production of an adaptation of the JG Ballard novella ‘Running Wild’ that Jackson will topline. ANI