Everyone loves a good true crime story, especially when a tantalizing mystery has gone unsolved for decades. I Am DB Cooper aims to unravel a piece of the most complex puzzle in airline history when it premieres in select theaters and On Demand on December 9. Written and directed by T.J. Regan (whose debut project was 2020's Gap Year), the film focuses on the exploits of one D.B. Cooper, who took a Boeing 727 aircraft hostage in 1971 and demanded a $200,000 dollars ransom.
After giving the flight crew strange instructions regarding their next stop, "Dan" Cooper (who became known as D.B. thanks to a reporting error) jumped off the plane with his parachutes and money and landed somewhere in the Pacific Northwest. He was never caught, nor has his identity ever been discovered, with only a few signs pointing to him having survived at all. The FBI officially gave up on any further investigation in 2016, but I Am DB Cooper offers a rather unexpected twist in the story thanks to some dubious yet impossible-to-ignore new testimony.
The trailer for I Am DB Cooper, presented exclusively by Screen Rant, opens with a return to 1971 and provides some of the reporting that occurred around the time of the hijacking. Then it shifts to the present, where bounty hunters Mike and Carlos Rocha, meet an old man named Rodney Bonnifield who is getting out on bail after an assault charge. With his time on this Earth running out, Rodney apparently confesses to Mike and Carlos that he is the real D.B. Cooper and needs to dig up the money he left buried by the Columbia River.
More About I Am DB Cooper
I Am DB Cooper's official poster reflects the whimsical tone of the trailer, which blends a fascinating true crime tale with a more tongue-in-cheek approach to its analysis and reporting. The film already premiered at Seattle International Film Festival in April of this year, and the story is by all accounts as entertaining as it is inconclusive. But the passion for the project and the subject material is evident throughout the trailer, and there's no doubt that such a documentary will stir interest in the cast once more.
The film includes access to Rodney and in-depth interviews in which he answers questions about his life and crimes that many would think impossible for someone other than D.B. to do. He also discusses his relationship with musician Rita Coolidge, and opens the door to many more questions an avid mystery fan would love to look into.
I Am DB Cooper arrives in theaters and On Demand on Friday, December 9.