By M&C Movie News Jan 21, 2008, 15:10 GMT
Director Oliver Stone has attached actor Josh Brolin to take on the role of George W. Bush in the director’s upcoming bio-flick on the president. The project features a script by Stone’s Wall Street co-writer Stanley Weiser, but has yet to find a home at a studio.
Josh Brolin - 2008 New York Times Arts & Leisure Week Welcome Josh Brolin and Tom Brokaw - Arrivals - The Times Center - New York City, NY, USA © Janet Mayer / PR Photos
Variety reports the film is scheduled to be produced by Moritz Borman (who worked with Stone on World Trade Center and Alexander) and Jon Kilik (who also produced Alexander and is working on Stone’s Pinkville).
The film’s script was finished before the WGA strike, and was ready for Stone to start shooting. If financing happens, the film could start production by April and could be released to theaters in time for the upcoming election.
In Variety, Stone (who has been vocal about his disapproval of Bush) said the film would not be an “anti-Bush” movie, but an attempt to explain how Bush came to power.
He stated: "It's a behind-the-scenes approach, similar to 'Nixon,' to give a sense of what it's like to be in his skin. But if 'Nixon' was a symphony, this is more like a chamber piece, and not as dark in tone. People have turned my political ideas into a cliche, but that is superficial. I'm a dramatist who is interested in people, and I have empathy for Bush as a human being, much the same as I did for Castro, Nixon, Jim Morrison, Jim Garrison and Alexander the Great."
He also declined to give Variety his personal opinion of Bush, and stated he wanted to give a “fair, true portrait of the man.”
Stone (who quietly developed the script with his partners under the titles "POTUS" and "Misunderestimated") said: "I can't give you that, because the filmmaker has to hide in the work. Here, I'm the referee, and I want a How did Bush go from an alcoholic bum to the most powerful figure in the world? It's like Frank Capra territory on one hand, but I'll also cover the demons in his private life, his bouts with his dad and his conversion to Christianity, which explains a lot of where he is coming from. It includes his belief that God personally chose him to be president of the United States, and his coming into his own with the stunning, preemptive attack on Iraq. It will contain surprises for Bush supporters and his detractors."
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