The Four Biggest Myths About AB of Seattle’s Investigation of the D.B. Cooper Case

blastcoverfrontMYTH:  We’ve had all sorts of offers for the movie rights to Into The Blast, the book that looks at Kenny Christiansen as the famous skyjacker.

TRUTH:  There have only been TWO offers. The first came from an anonymous client of Paradigm, the rep agency in New York City. They merely asked if the rights were available. We said yes. Later, they revealed themselves as representing CBS Films, and made a modest five-figure offer for the movie rights to Christiansen’s story. When they warned us that they planned to take ‘serious liberties’ with Kenny’s life story, and that some portions of the film might be ‘comedic,’ we turned down the offer. Soon afterward, CBS Films purchased the rights to author Geoffrey Gray’s book Skyjack, but later sold the rights to director Will Gluck’s (Friends With Benefits, Annie) production company. To date, no film based on the Gray book is in production. 

The second, and only other offer, came from a film company in the Los Angeles area who had been researching the Cooper case for over a year, including visits to the biggest website on Cooper, the famous ‘DB Cooper Forum’. After some negotiations that included a certain amount of control over the script, we signed with them on January 23, 2017. Exactly one year later, since production shooting had not yet begun on the movie, they extended the option payments for an additional year. They were extended again in 2019. On a side note, we also provided the production company unlimited access to all public and confidential files collected during our seven-year investigation into Kenny Christiansen. Due to a confidentiality agreement we signed with the company, we were not allowed to reveal their name until they went public with a film announcement first. In 2020, they finally submitted a script for our approval. We did not approve the script and let the media contract with the production company expire. We did not have to repay their option money, since that clause was built into our contract. We are no longer associated with that production company and the media rights are once again open. Because of all this, we are no longer eager to sign another one, although we try to keep an open mind about it.

shruggingMYTH: Adventure Books has hosted multiple online forums, which were closed down due to Terms of Service violations.

TRUTH: There is actually some truth in this one. We hosted two previous forums, and yes, both of them were shut down for Terms of Service violations. These violations stemmed from our responses to lies being told about us, and personal attacks being done, at another website discussing the Cooper case.

MYTH: Some of the witness testimony against Kenny Christiansen was simply ‘made up’ by the staff of Adventure Books.

TRUTH: All witness testimony is properly sourced by providing the true names of these witnesses, their locations, the dates of interviews, and are backed up by extensive notes and photographs. These files take up two large sets of drawers in our main office.

MYTH: Kenny Christiansen’s brother, Lyle Christiansen, was just trying to sell movie companies on the idea of a film about his brother, and didn’t really believe he was the hijacker. He simply wanted to ‘cash in’ on Kenny’s story.

coopertake1
One of many cartoons created over the years by Robert Blevins of Adventure Books regarding the hijacking. This cartoon pokes fun at the alleged accomplice, Bernie Geestman, and what might happen if he were hired to be a consultant on a movie about D.B. Cooper.

TRUTH: Lyle Christiansen, a retired postal worker, was already about eighty years old when he came forward about his brother. He has actively participated in the investigation into Kenny, providing extensive documents, letters, and photographs. Later, on behalf of his family and for the estate of Kenny Christiansen, he signed a full release allowing the film company to tell his brother’s story – without being paid a dime. He has said that if Kenny’s story were made into a motion picture, that this would result in the truth at last. (We agree with him completely) On a side note, the family of the alleged accomplice, Bernie Geestman, has refused any money to disclose ‘Uncle Bernie’s’ role in the hijacking.

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