CBS grabs book rights for McVeigh movie

CBS has snapped up the rights to the book American Terrorist: Timothy McVeigh and the Oklahoma City Bombing for a future mini-series.

Considering the media attention centered on McVeigh's execution Monday, following his conviction for killing 168 people in the Oklahoma City bombing, viewer interest would seem high for such a project. However, CBS may have to address the outrage many people felt after American Terrorist was published. Many Oklahoma City victims were upset over the fact that McVeigh confessed to the bombing to authors Lou Michel and Dan Herbeck, but did not appear apologetic about his actions.

However, the executive producer for the McVeigh project, Gerry Abrams (TNT's Nuremburg), says he wants to put more of a focus on the Oklahoma City bombing victims than on McVeigh himself. A spokesperson for CBS said the project is in development and so far there is no production start date.

The move to grab American Terrorist is interesting considering CBS' recent American Tragedy, a miniseries based on the book about another controversial figure, O.J. Simpson, was not a ratings stand-out with audiences. - Susanne Ault