Benghazi Film May Shake Up the Primaries

Paramount recently announced the release date for "13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi," which is an action movie produced and directed by Michael Bay.

The upcoming film will make its debut on Jan. 15, 2016, which is a significant date in presidential politics since the Iowa caucuses are slated to be held about two weeks after the film hits the theaters.

It also happens to be the same weekend that Clint Eastwood's movie "American Sniper" made its 2015 wide release debut. Due to the content of the film and its potential effect on Hillary Clinton's presidential ambitions, Bay's movie, much like Eastwood's "Sniper," is likely to be a topic of discussion on numerous cable television programs and an array of talk radio shows in the lead-up to its release and beyond.

Contrary to the lack of interest that has been displayed by far too many in the mainstream media, the public still longs to know more about what occurred in Benghazi and seeks justice for the victims of the horrific incident, which so viciously took the lives of four Americans, including U.S. Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens.

The movie is based on the 2014 book titled "13 Hours: The Inside Account of What Really Happened in Benghazi," penned by journalist Michael Zuckoff along with five surviving CIA special ops contractors. The special ops contractors are the individuals who on September 11, 2012 chose to respond to the attack on the U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi, which was carried out by armed militant extremists.

As the source material for the movie script, the book does not support the various explanations for the attack that the Clinton State Department and spokespeople for the White House put forth. In fact, the Wall Street Journal called Zuckoff's book "an indictment of the Obama administration's tattered narrative."

The movie tells the story of the six individuals who were part of a security team that attempted to defend the Benghazi compound. Cast members of the film include John Krasinski, Max Martini, and James Badge Dale.

The first movie trailer has been released and clearly follows the main plotlines of the book, detailing how the rescuers who were attempting to save the lives of the Americans under attack had to defy orders that had been given to them.

The notion that State Department bureaucrats tried to prevent military personnel from effectively responding to the Benghazi attack may be troublesome for candidate Clinton. Amid numerous other scandals with which Hillary is dealing, the presumed 2016 Democratic presidential frontrunner may have to field questions about why there were no effective plans in place to counter the dangers posed by the destabilization of Libya and why the State Department under her leadership failed to shore up security for those who took part in the Benghazi mission.

Within Hollywood, director Bay is somewhat of a political enigma. For the most part, he has been able to deftly avoid discussion of his personal political views. There are, however, some indications that he may be more independent-minded than the majority of his Hollywood counterparts.

Bay's longtime colleague, creative partner, and friend is producer Jerry Bruckheimer, a power player in the entertainment industry who interestingly made financial contributions to the presidential campaign of John McCain in 2008 as well as Mitt Romney's in 2012.

Bay's filmography also has content that is atypical of the pervasive Hollywood ideology, as outlined below:

• His 1998 "Armageddon" features a team of experts that is recruited by the U.S. government to destroy an asteroid and save the world. The experts' compensation demands are to be exempt from income taxes for life;

• His 2003 "Bad Boys II" features authority-bucking cop heroes who invade communist Cuba;

• In his 2005 film "The Island," he eerily foreshadows a similar Planned Parenthood-style body parts mill. The protagonist of the movie discovers that the compound in which he lives is inhabited by clones, whose sole purpose of existence is to be exploited as tissue donors for the affluent, with the organs of clones being harvested for ill-gotten convenience and ignoble profit;

• Bay's 2009 contribution, "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen," has the Obama administration making an appearance in the fictional story and foolishly appeasing the evil Decepticon robots.

In a manner resembling Eastwood, Bay wields a tremendous amount of clout with Hollywood executives. His highly intense action films have grossed billions of dollars worldwide.

However, despite his successes, film critics have routinely shown disrespect for Bay's movies. With his upcoming movie, though, the intensity may be ratcheted up. The same mainstream critics who carped about "American Sniper" are likely to have the long swords out for a movie that has the potential to undermine the candidacy of the presumed Democratic nominee.

Sources indicate that those on the left side of the political spectrum are already preparing a destructive media initiative to harm the credibility of Bay's "13 Hours." However, the liberal elite are about to find out that just as they failed to inhibit the box-office success of "American Sniper," they are not going to be able to stop Bay's "13 Hours" from becoming a blockbuster.

James Hirsen, J.D., M.A., in media psychology, is a New York Times best-selling author, media analyst, and law professor. Visit Newsmax TV Hollywood. Read more reports from James Hirsen — Click Here Now.