Editing 25th Hour (section)

===Development===
Benioff completed the book ''[[The 25th Hour]]'' while studying at the [[University of California Irvine]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://news.uci.edu/feature/crowning-achievement/ |title=Crowning achievement|date=August 12, 2014|work=UCI News }}</ref><ref name=Guardian>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2003/may/03/featuresreviews.guardianreview6 |title=One more hour |first=David |last=Benioff |date= May 3, 2003 |work=The Guardian|access-date= August 30, 2024 }}</ref> After he received numerous rejections, it was published in 2001. Six months before that a preliminary trade copy was circulated; actor and producer [[Tobey Maguire]] read it and became interested in playing the lead role of Monty Brogan.

He acquired the option for a potential film project and asked Benioff to adapt it as a screenplay.<ref name="dartmouth">{{cite news |url=http://thedartmouth.com/2011/05/12/benioff-92-embraces-storytelling-in-surreal-career/ |title=Benioff '92 embraces storytelling in 'surreal' career |author=Katie Kilkenny |date=May 12, 2011 |work=The Dartmouth |access-date=June 16, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160816111920/http://thedartmouth.com/2011/05/12/benioff-92-embraces-storytelling-in-surreal-career |archive-date=August 16, 2016 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref><ref name=Guardian /> However, after the script was written, Maguire had become too deeply involved with the ''[[Spider-Man (2002 film)|Spider-Man]]'' film to take on another acting job. But he later served as a producer of ''25th Hour''. [[Spike Lee]] expressed an interest in directing the film.<ref name=Guardian /><ref name="herald">{{cite news |url=http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/11901820.Q__What_do_Brad_Pitt__Spike_Lee_and_the_Iliad_have_in_common____A__David_Benioff__Hollywood_apos_s_latest__wonder_kid/ |title=Q: What do Brad Pitt, Spike Lee and the Iliad have in common? A: David Benioff, Hollywood's latest wonder kid |date=March 29, 2003 |work=Herald Scotland }}</ref>

Spike Lee was interested in the long monologue that Benioff called the "fuck monologue", in which Monty ranted against the five boroughs of New York; Benioff had considered leaving it out of the film, but Lee persuaded him to keep it in. Disney picked up the film rights and wanted the monologue cut, but Lee persisted in filming the scene.<ref name=Guardian />

The film was in the "planning stages" at the time of the [[September 11 attacks]]. Lee "decided not to ignore the tragedy but to integrate it into his story". The feelings of loss and uncertainty suffuse the film.<ref name="SFGate">{{cite news|url =http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/09/10/PKGPMKU4661.DTL |title=9/11: FIVE YEARS LATER: Spike Lee's '25th Hour'|last=LaSalle |first=Mick |work=San Francisco Chronicle|access-date= June 10, 2013}}</ref>