Variety has reported that a new biopic about US Senator Joseph McCarthy has been picked up for international distribution just before the opening of the European Film Market.
The film, tilted McCarthy, will star Michael Shannon in the titular role with Emilia Clarke of Game of Thrones playing his wife, Jean Kerr.
Despite still being in the pre-production stage, HanWay Films has managed to secure deals that would allow the film to have distribution in multiple countries outside of North America. McCarthy is set to begin filming later this year in both the US and in Prague, with Václav Marhoul behind the camera. This will be Marhoul’s first film since his 2019 World War II drama, The Painted Bird. Marhoul will be working from a script by Tom O’Conner, the screenwriter behind The Hitman’s Bodyguard films and 2020’s The Courier.
McCarthy will focus on Joseph McCarthy’s life and will examine what drove him to the extreme lengths he went through to drive out perceived Communists from Hollywood. His new-age witch hunt not only led to many in Hollywood being blacklisted but also served as the inspiration for Arthur Miller’s 1953 novel, The Crucible. While McCarthy’s actions have made it onto film in the past, most recently in 2017’s Trumbo, this will be the first real biopic about the man himself.
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