Plans for Lockerbie bombing film

270 people died after the bombing on Pan Am flight 103

A top director has revealed plans to make the story of the Lockerbie bombing into a Hollywood film.

New Zealander Niki Caro - whose previous films include the critically acclaimed Whale Rider - is said to be developing a script for the film.

All passengers and crew on board the Pan Am flight 103 died when it exploded over the Scottish town in 1988.

Libyan Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi was convicted of their murders and that of 11 Lockerbie residents in 2001.

Emotional 'consequences'

The film is being adapted from Ken Dornstein's memoir, The Boy Who Fell Out of the Sky, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

Published in 2006, the book tells the story of author Ken Dornstein's brother David, who died in the tragedy.

Niki Caro told the magazine that the film would be set in the present with the use of flashbacks.

Any programme which threw any light on what happened is potentially very welcome Dr Jim Swire Father of victim

He said: "It looks at the emotional consequences of terrorism, but not in a political way."

Dr Jim Swire, whose daughter Flora died in the tragedy, was cautious about the project.

Speaking about the bereaved families' reaction to the possibility of a Hollywood production, Dr Swire said there were invariably differences between media representations of the incident and what those who have been affected want.

He said: "We have always been after the truth. We want to know why it was not prevented in the first place and people who make programmes about it often want to handle things a bit differently.

"But any programme which threw any light on what happened is potentially very welcome."