Michael B. Jordan to produce real-life FBI whistleblower drama starring Yahya Abdul-Mateen II
The movie is based on a New York Times article titled I Helped Destroy People
America’s descent into anti-Islamic fascism (or at least whatever fascism-adjacent system we’re working with now) is going to get explored in an upcoming Amazon Studios film called I Helped Destroy People from a team of producers that includes Michael B. Jordan. The movie is based on the New York Times article of the same name, which concerns former FBI agent Terry Albury, who joined the bureau shortly before 9/11 and was later tasked with observing and infiltrating Muslim communities for basically no reason other than the fact that they were Muslim communities.
Albury later started leaking details of illegal or racist FBI operations to the press, believing that the public’s right to know about the evil deeds being performed by the government superseded whatever secret stuff the FBI was up to, and he spent a few years in prison after getting caught and prosecuted by the—ahem—previous presidential administration (you can get the whole story in that Times story). That means his story covers everything from pre-9/11 to late-2020, which is a pretty impactful stretch of time in this country.
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, who is enjoying a real “is in everything” period these days (Candyman, The Matrix: Resurrections, Aquaman, Watchmen), will be starring as Albury. Hand Of God creator Ben Watkins, who is already part of the Amazon Prime Video family, will be writing the script. (Hopefully this turns out better than that show, which starred Ron Perlman as a judge who starts getting messages from God and was very much Amazon’s attempt to have its own gritty, prestige drama.)
The Deadline story we’re getting this from does not have much other useful information about I Helped Destroy People, but with Michael B. Jordan producing and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II starring, it seems like a pretty high profile project. We’ll be hearing more before long, probably.