By Jason Apuzzo. The Hollywood Reporter has an article out right now about a planned Ronald Reagan biopic from producers Mark Joseph and Ralph Winter. According to THR:
The story of Ronald Reagan’s life — from boyhood to Hollywood actor to leader of the free world — is about to spill out on the big screen in a way quite different from the miniseries that caused such a stir seven years ago. The feature film, titled “Reagan” and sporting a $30 million production budget, is set for release late next year and will be based on two best-selling biographies of the 40th U.S. president by Paul Kengor: “The Crusader” and “God and Ronald Reagan.”
Mark Joseph, who optioned the books four years ago, is co-producing with Ralph Winter and Jonas McCord wrote the script. Winter’s producing credits include four “X-Men” movies, two “Fantastic Four” movies and the 2001 remake of “Planet of the Apes.” Joseph, a marketing and development executive, worked on “Ray,” “Holes,” “Because of Winn-Dixie” and “The Passion of the Christ.”
McCord, whose credits include “Malice” and “The Body,” said he wasn’t a fan of Reagan but was drawn to the project as he researched the former president’s upbringing. “I was of the opinion that at best he was a bad actor and at worst a clown,” McCord said.
Mark Joseph is an acquaintance of mine, and I first spoke to him several years ago about this project when he was initially trying to get it off the ground. Mark was very passionate about the project, particularly in terms of how he wanted to explore Reagan’s Christian faith and the role it played in the development of his anti-communist worldview.
According to THR, the film still doesn’t have all its financing, and does not yet have a director or cast attached – but I’m glad the project has gained momentum, and we’ll keep an eye on it as it develops.
I will confess to being somewhat discomfited that the screenwriter on this project initially thought of President Reagan as “at best … a bad actor and at worst a clown.” I know several screenwriters – with major credits – whose enthusiasm for President Reagan is of a much less qualified variety. In any case, we wish Mark and his team the best with this film.
[Footnote: Fred Ward starred as Ronald Reagan this summer in the taut Cold War thriller Farewell, which co-starred Willem Dafoe. Read the Libertas review of Farewell here, and you can catch the trailer over in the right sidebar.]
Posted on September 7th, 2010 at 10:29pm.
RONALDUS MAGNUS!!! Great picture.
It is, isn’t it?
I hope this a sincere project and not another drooling hit job by Hollywood on a conservative icon. With our illiterate world getting most of it’s news from The Daily Show and wide release movies this has the potential to do damage. Like the upcoming The Iron Lady with Meryl Streep that’s currently in development.
I know the main person behind this – and I can assure you that it’s not going to be a hit job. Nothing even remotely like the Streep movie – not even within a thousand miles of that. But we’ll obviously have to wait and see in terms of how strong the project will otherwise be. It’s hard to judge these things without knowing about the cast or the director, etc.