Shortly after the foiling of the 2015 Thalys train attack earlier that year , Sadler made an appearance on '' The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon '' with host Jimmy Fallon in September 2015 , discussing his role in disarming the gunman . Months later in 2016 , Sadler , Alek Skarlatos and Spencer Stone started working on a memoir , titled '' The 15:17 to Paris '' , detailing the events of the train attack . Perseus Books Group , which published the book , described the memoir as “ the gripping true story of a terrorist attack that would have killed more than 500 people if not for their actions , but it is also the story of three American boys , their friendship , and the values we hold dear . ” David Steinberger , president and chief executive of Perseus Books Group , said that he was “ confident that this is going to be a film . It ’s extremely cinematic , and there ’s a lot of interest in the movie . ” He further stated , " based on the material , that this was going to be an important book and one that readers were really going to respond to . ” The memoir was made available to the public on August 23 , 2016 , almost a year after the 2015 Thalys train attack . Sadler made an appearance on '' Who Wants to Be a Millionaire '' in October 2016 as a part of a special " Hometown Heroes " week . Playing as a team with Skarlatos and Stone , they won $ 250,000 . In July 2017 , it was announced that Clint Eastwood would direct the upcoming biographical film titled after Stone , Skarlatos and Sadler 's memoir , starring them , along with actresses Jenna Fischer and Judy Greer . Filming began on July 11 , 2017 and the film was released on February 9 , 2018 . When asked about casting the trio as themselves in the film , Eastwood stated that he was considering casting actors , " But I kept looking at the faces of these young men ... it just struck me that it would be an interesting experiment . " The film received a generally negative reception from critics , who were largely critical of the acting by the three leads
2015 Thalys train attack
2015 Thalys train attack
Anthony Sadler