[Doolittle81]

Originally Posted by XabbaRus

Wonder if the Russian studios ever made a film about them?
...

The big screen movie version seems to have never gotten up and running:

"Night Witches"
Release Date: Unknown; that will depend upon when production eventually starts up

Language: English and Russian with English subtitles.

Distributor: Currently seeking distribution in the USA.

Production Company: Soyuz Kino Service (Russia), Poseidon Films (1994's The Steal) (U.K.)

Cast: None announced yet.

Cast Notes: (10/27/03) Back when filming was expected to start in 2001, the cast would have included Anna Friel, Sophie Marceau and Malcolm McDowell (Alexander Siddig's uncle).

Director: Alexander Siddig (debut; he's probably best-known as a cast member of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine; he did direct an episode of the show; he's also McDowell's nephew)

Screenwriter: April Holloway, Alexander Siddig (debuts)

Based Upon: The true story of one of three Russian squadrons of female WWII pilots that the Nazi's called Nachthexen (which translates as Night Witches).

Similar Project Note: (10/21/02) Another film in development that is based on the same true story may also be called 'Night Witches' (if it beats this film to production). That project is to be produced by Jerry Rigged Productions for Paramount Pictures, and is based upon the book, "Night Witches", by Bruce Miles.

Premise: Set during WWII along the Eastern Front between Germany and Russia, this is the story of the "Night Witches", squadrons of female pilots who became one of the most feared and lethal of Russia's defenses against the Nazi's. Flying older Po-2 biplanes normally used as trainers, they flew nuisance missions at night, but managed to wreak havok on the Germans.

Filming: Production had been scheduled to start in Russia in October, 2001, on a budget of $20 million. Post-production will be done in Canada, but it appears that it's been delayed (11/7/01), possibly to later this fall or sometime in early 2002? (11/30/01) The director's official site confirms the new production start date as early 2002. (4/5/02) Well, early 2002 is just about over, and Siddig hasn't updated his site about this since November, so there really is no word now about where this is.