Bradley Cooper to produce film about 1980s casino extortion plot

Actor Bradley Cooper is set to produce a film about a real-life 1980s Nevada casino extortion plot.

The American Hustle star has teamed up with filmmaker/actor Todd Phillips to develop the movie based on Adam Higginbotham's article A Thousand Pounds of Dynamite, according to TheWrap.com.

The film will center on law enforcement officials' attempts to disarm a bomb found underneath the Harvey's Wagon Wheel Casino in 1980.

The explosive device was eventually detonated by authorities at the US. Federal Bureau of Investigation, but no injuries occurred because the building had already been cleared out.

California landscaper John Birges was found guilty of placing the bomb and planning the $3 million extortion plot and was sentenced to life in prison.

He died of liver cancer in 1996.