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Movie discussions 'advanced' - miner

Published:Tuesday | December 7, 2010 | 12:00 AM
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In this photo released by the Chilean Government, the last miner to be rescued, Luis Urzua (left) shakes hands with Chile's President Sebastián Piñera, after being freed from the collapsed San José gold and copper mine, where he had been trapped with 32..
In this picture released by Chile's Presidential Press Office, Chile's President Sebastián Piñera (centre), holds up a framed reproduction of a handwritten message, that was retrieved from miners who were trapped in the collapsed San José mine, that reads in Spanish,
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SAN JOSE, Costa Rica (AP):

Two of the 33 Chilean miners trapped underground for two months said Sunday that plans for a movie chronicling their ordeal are moving fast.

Miner Juan Illanes said, during a visit to Costa Rica, that discussions for the movie are "very advanced and we hope there are results soon."

"It's a business deal and when that's the case you want to try to find a way for everyone to profit fairly," Illanes said.

Illanes said his life has been "scandalously different" since he and his colleagues were rescued in October, after spending 69 days trapped 2,300 feet (700 metres) underground by a cave-in.

Illanes said that prior to the collapse, he was "a normal worker" who would have never been able to afford a trip to Costa Rica. Illanes and Bustos were in the capital, San José, to host two private conferences about their experience trapped in the mine.

They will return to Chile before travelling December 11 to England, where they've been invited to attend a Manchester United soccer game.

The miners have been inundated with gifts since their rescue.

"Why do they give them to us? I think that the joy that our rescue represented is now manifesting itself in gifts," Bustos said.