The Watergate-centered drama Felt has made two key casting announcements. Diane Lane (an Oscar nominee for her performance in the 2002 drama Unfaithful) and Jason Bateman (This Is Where I Leave You) appear set to join Liam Neeson in the film. Felt was written and will be directed by Peter Landesman (Concussion) and set to start filming in March.
In the film, Neeson will portray Mark W. Felt, former FBI deputy director who was revealed to be famed whistleblower Deep Throat. The Watergate scandal- which made heroes and earned Pulitzer Prizes to Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein (which served as the basis for the classic Oscar winning 1976 movie All the President’s Men starring Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman) used Felt’s documents to expose the 1972 break-in of the Democratic National Committee headquarters, events that famously led to the end of Richard Nixon’s presidency. Felt looks to tell the true story of the man behind one of the greatest political scandals of all time. Felt admitted to being Deep Throat in 2005, three years before his death.
Lane will portray Felt’s wife Audrey and Bateman will play Charlie Bates, a FBI agent aware of Felt’s actions and in conflict over what to do about it. Lane can be seen in Trumbo currently in theaters opposite Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad) and Elle Fanning (Somewhere) and will next be feature in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Jason Bateman recently premiered his second feature as director- The Family Fang– at the 2015 Toronto Film Festival.
Landesman- whose Concussion stars Will Smith and will be released this Christmas- previously made Parkland, an ensemble film that centered around the events directly following the assassination of John F. Kennedy.
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