ABC and NBC are both developing miniseries based on the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, The Hollywood Reporter said Thursday.
The paper said both projects will use the "9/11 Commission Report" as the blueprint for their dramatizations of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
NBC entertainment president Kevin Reilly announced that writer-producer Graham Yost ("Band of Brothers," "Speed") will develop a series focusing on the circumstances leading up to the attack.
"With this most important subject matter, we're setting our sights on nothing short of a seminal event for television," said Reilly. "We're going to bring together the highest caliber production elements ... and try to bring a cultural event to television that harkens back to the days of 'Roots' and 'The Day After.'"
The Hollywood Reporter said ABC has been developing a similar concept for the past several months.
"Roots" was a 1977 Emmy-winner and ratings blockbuster, based on Alex Haley's book about his family line from Africa to slavery and emancipation in the United States. "The Day After" was a controversial 1983 TV movie about a nuclear blast and its aftereffects in Kansas.
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