Legendary broadcast journalist Walter Cronkite was so revered by the American public that once he publicly denounced the Vietnam War, President Lyndon B. Johnson was believed to have said, “If I’ve lost Walter Cronkite, I’ve lost middle America.” Cronkite on air indictment of the situation in Vietnam was a watershed moment – not just for television, but for journalism and for the nation as well. It appears now that a film treatment of Cronkite’s experience with Vietnam will now be a subject for an upcoming movie which has a group of powerful allies in its corner – powerhouse filmmaker Steven Spielberg and his Bridge of Spies screenwriter Marc Charman and producer Marc Platt.
It’s unclear as of now if Spielberg will direct the project but Deadline reported the project started rolling while Spielberg and Charman were on the awards circuit for Bridge of Spies – which earned six Oscar nominations including Best Picture and a nod for Charman script; actor Mark Rylance took home the Best Supporting Actor trophy. While this project, still untitled, is still in its early days, with its pedigree the film could mark a significant movie to stay attuned to (journalism set Spotlight did just recently win the Best Picture Oscar) – the film will be developed through DreamWorks and Amblin Entertainment.
At the present, Charman is tasked to penning the original screenplay while negotiations play out. If Spielberg were to direct the film himself, it may be quite sometime since he has a fairly full card at the moment. His upcoming The BFG (starring Rylance) hits theaters on July 1st as he prepares his follow-up Ready Player One (starring Tye Sheridan, Olivia Cooke and Ben Mendelson). The Oscar winning filmmaking legend is expected to follow that up with The Kidnapping Of Edgardo Mortara, which features script from Tony Kushner (Lincoln, Munich) and is also expected to star Rylance. All that and an upcoming Indiana Jones films is a lot to get out of the way.
We shall stay tuned the latest developments on this one.
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