Jan 21, 2008 6:37 pm US/Central
Oliver Stone Sets His Sights On Bush
(CBS News)
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Oliver Stone will look to President George W. Bush as the subject of his next film.
AP
Oliver Stone, whose past films have explored the assassination of one
president and the turmoil surrounding another, will turn his attention
to a sitting president for his next film.
The Academy Award-winning director of "Platoon," "JFK," "Born on
the Fourth of July" and "Nixon" told Daily Variety that his next
project will be "Bush," focusing on the life and presidency of George
W. Bush.
Josh Brolin, currently in "No Country for Old Men," would play the title role.
The picture, written by Stone's "Wall Street" co-writer Stanley
Weiser, would be produced by Moritz Borman ("World Trade Center") and
Jon Kilik.
Stone was previously set to film "Pinkville," about the My Lai massacre, until the studio dropped the project.
With the Writers Guild strike putting many in-pre-production
projects on hold, shooting on "Bush" could commence as early this
spring, pending financing, and could be ready for release before the
November election.
Stone told Daily Variety that the film offers a behind-the-scenes
look at events that brought Mr. Bush to power. But he denied that he
was interested in making an anti-Bush screed.
"People have turned my political ideas into a cliche, but that is
superficial." Stone said. "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."
"I want a fair, true portrait of the man. 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."
The script has been kept under wraps, being developed under the
titles "POTUS" (shorthand for Presdient of the United States) and
"Misunderestimated."
Brolin, seen this year in "No Country for Old Men," "American
Gangster" and "In the Valley of Elah," as well as the Quentin Tarantino
double-bill "Grind House," is currently playing another politician: Dan
White, who shot and killed fellow San Francisco figures Harvey Milk and
Mayor George Moscone, in the Gus Van Sant-directed "Milk."
"Josh is actually better looking than Bush but has the same drive
and charisma that Americans identify with Bush, who has some of that
old-time movie-star swagger," Stone told Daily Variety.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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