'Da Vinci Code' Filmmakers Buy Rights To Beslan Film

The British newspaper "The Guardian" reported today that Brian Grazer, "The Da Vinci Code" producer, and Hollywood's Universal Pictures have bought the right to turn into a script an article on the siege published in "Esquire" magazine.

The 18,000-word article was written by "New York Times" journalist Chris Chivers, who covered the siege. The crisis ended in the deaths of 331 people, more than half of them children.

Grazer said the story "cries out to be told on the big screen."

The news comes as a court in North Ossetia continues reading the verdict in the case of the man said to be the sole surviving hostage taker.