New writer for Denzel Washington’s WW II movie

(Hollywood Reporter) Matthew Sand has been tapped to rewrite “Brothers in Arms,” Alcon’s long-gestating project about the only black U.S. tank unit to fight in the European theater during World War II.

Denzel Washington is attached to direct as well as produce with Alcon’s co-founders and co-CEOs Broderick Johnson and Andrew Kosove.

Based on a nonfiction tome by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Anthony Walton, the book tells the story of how the unit overcame prejudice and sought to prove themselves on the battlefield by spearheading the Allied Forces’ drive eastward toward Germany during the Battle of the Bulge.

The battalion helped liberate some 30 towns and villages and won the respect of their fellow soldiers.

David Chisholm and John Sayles previously wrote on the project.