Benghazi movie ‘13 Hours’ debuts in a big way at AT&T Stadium

For a night, Hollywood descended upon North Texas.

The world premiere of the new film 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi, which opens in theaters across the country Friday, was Tuesday at AT&T Stadium.

The event, which was free and open to the public, included appearances by the film’s director, Michael Bay, and the film’s stars, including John Krasinski, James Badge Dale and David Costabile, as well as some real-life surviving soldiers.

The film, adapted by screenwriter Chuck Hogan from the book of the same name by Mitchell Zuckoff, follows the story of six elite ex-military operators assigned to protect the CIA during an attack on a U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, on Sept. 11, 2012.

Four Americans, including Ambassador Christopher Stevens, were killed in the attack, which became — and remains — a political hot-button issue.

The goal for the film was simple, according to Bay.

“We tried to make you feel like you’re there,” he said Tuesday.

13 Hours was shown on the enormous screen hanging above the field. Before the screening, the audience was treated to musical performances from The Band Perry, Chris Cornell and self-described “patriotic rock band” Madison Rising.

To hear Krasinski tell it, he may never be able to attend a regular, normally scaled Hollywood premiere again.

“Yeah, I don’t think you ever go back from this,” the actor joked on the red carpet, glancing up at the jumbo-sized screen. “The tiny 600-person [screening] is just not going to cut it anymore.”

The evening was indeed outsized — attendance figures were not immediately available, but an eyeball estimate put the crowd at 25,000 — with a red carpet set up on the field, and images from the film displayed as Entertainment Tonight’s Kevin Frazier interviewed soldiers and filmmakers.

Recreating in Malta and Morocco the chaotic firefight that consumed the Benghazi compound was a challenge, but one that the actors embraced.

“I’m not the type of actor who likes air conditioning and green-screen,” said Dale, who plays the role of Tyrone Woods. “I like being outside, I like being hot, I like being dirty. So this was my type of filmmaking.”

For those who really fought on the ground in Libya, watching 13 Hours was a visceral experience, not the least because they had a hand in helping Bay achieve authenticity.

“When I first saw it and walked out of the theater, Michael asked me, ‘What do you think?’ and I said, ‘I feel empty,’ ” said Kris “Tanto” Paronto.

“When [what] I meant was I relived it, I went back there … and I realized how much I miss the job. When the movie was over, it felt like that life was ripped away from me again. That’s what I needed to feel. So I’m very happy — they got it right.”

Getting it right was perhaps most important, Krasinski said, but he also took something else away from the experience of making 13 Hours.

“I hope [the film] represents what our men and women who serve go through every single day, what they leave behind — families, friends — the commitment level,” he said. “I think when people say, ‘We support the troops,’ they think they know what they’re talking about.

“I would invite them to think even harder and really understand what that commitment is and what a sacrifice that is and how much we owe them.”

This story was originally published January 12, 2016 at 10:25 PM with the headline "Benghazi movie ‘13 Hours’ debuts in a big way at AT&T Stadium."