Avi Nesher to Direct Adaptation of Best-Seller ‘Sons and Soldiers’ for Jagman Productions (EXCLUSIVE)

Jagman Productions and producer Josh Green have acquired the rights to adapt Bruce Henderson’s “Sons and Soldiers,” with acclaimed Israeli filmmaker Avi Nesher set to direct.

Henderson’s book follows a small group of young German-born Jewish refugees who escaped from Nazi-occupied Europe and resettled in America in the 1930s. After the United States entered the war, they were recruited by the Army and trained as interrogators and translators at Camp Ritchie. At great personal risk, they returned to wartorn Europe to fight for their adopted homeland and for the families they had left behind. The book was a New York Times bestseller.

Related Stories

Ryan Reynolds Says Deadpool Will Be a 'Supporting Character' Moving Forward and 'I've Got Stuff Written' for His Return: 'I Don't Think I'm Ever Going to Center Him Again'

Marvel's Visual Department Director Andy Park Exits After 16 Years Amid Disney Layoffs: 'I Couldn't Be Prouder of the History We Made'

Drawing on original interviews and archival material, “Sons and Soldiers” traces the Ritchie Boys’ journeys from displacement to combat, and their desperate efforts in the waning weeks of the war to find surviving family members. A postwar U.S. Army report found that nearly 60 percent of the credible intelligence gathered during the war in Europe came from the Ritchie Boys.”

Nesher previously wrote and directed “Image of Victory,” a historical drama centered on the Battle of Nitzanim during Israel’s War of Independence, which received 15 Israeli Academy Award nominations. Additional credits include “The Other Story,” “Past Life,” and “The Matchmaker.” His latest feature, “Our Loves,” is set to premiere in 2026.

“The book exposes a largely forgotten chapter of WWII history: how Jewish and other refugees who escaped Nazi tyranny became some of the most effective intelligence assets for the Allies, juxtaposing the broader sweep of World War II with intimate, personal, deeply human journeys,” Green said. “This story celebrates not just the mostly Jewish, German, and Austrian Ritchie Boys but also all the other unsung heroes and European refugees who risked everything to return to the fight and helped turned the tide of the war.”

“In a time of rising antisemitism, this story feels urgently necessary,” Nesher said. “It challenges long-standing stereotypes that reduce Jews to figures of manipulation or finance, and instead reveals a history of courage, intelligence, and direct engagement on the battlefield. The Ritchie Boys represent a form of warfare rarely seen on screen, one where language, psychology, and identity are not secondary tools, but decisive forces. This film will aspire to bring that dimension forward with clarity and force to be as immediate and affecting as ‘Saving Private Ryan,’ while offering a perspective that feels both vital and overdue.”

Green’s recent credits include executive producing Sam Pollard’s documentaries “I Was Born This Way” (Co-directed by Daniel Junge) and “The League,” as well as Ann Hu’s U.S./China co-production “Confetti.” He is currently producing Macro’s adaptation of Reginald Lewis’s memoir “Why Should White Guys Have All the Fun?, “written by Oscar-winner Kevin Willmott, as well as Dr Ronald Mallett’s memoir “The Time Traveler.” His additional projects include biopics on Cuban ballet icon Alicia Alonso and college basketball coaching and broadcasting legend Al McGuire, as well as a docuseries exploring the history of Willowbrook State Developmental Center.

Green is represented by Greg Pedicin at Untitled Entertainment. Nesher is represented by Gersh.