Great news from Hollywood

American Thinker ^ | September 9, 2010 | Thomas Lifson

[jazusamo]

At last, a degree of sanity has come to Hollywood. A film biography of Ronald Reagan based on the work of AT contributor, and executive director of the Center for Vision & Values at Grove City College, Paul Kengor, is set to go into production, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

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."

The people involved in the project are heavyweights:

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.

The project is almost sure to be a big hit. I have not seen the inside of a movie theatre for well over a year, but will stand in line to buy tickets for this film when it is released. And I am certain there are many millions of people just like me, who are yearning to see our hero treated with respect in a Hollywood production.

It is somewhat similar to The Passion of the Christ; there is a huge audience that Hollywood forfeits out of political hatred for the American mainstream. Mel Gibson had a terrible struggle to get distribution for The Passion, and the producers of Reagan may also face such a struggle. But Hollywood may have learned its lesson from scorning The Passion. We shall see. Co=producer Joseph commented to the Hollywood Reporter:

"Only in Hollywood could you make an insulting, condescending movie about a much-loved historical figure, hire an actor who loathes the man, watch it flop and then somehow conclude that Americans don't want to see a movie about him," Joseph said. "I watched Americans line up and wait for 10 hours for the simple privilege of passing by his closed casket. They love this man."

Joseph is referring to the CBS-produced hit piece biopic on Reagan starring James Brolin, which aired on Showtime after protests caused CBS to shelve airing it on the free network. For the record, Brolin claims he doesn't hate Reagan.

[jazusamo]

I'll wait in line to see it.

[Borges]

“But Hollywood may have learned its lesson from scorning The Passion.”

This is a misleading canard. Tons of films don’t get big studio distribution every year. And serious films about religion were box office poison.

[SeekAndFind]

RE: the CBS-produced hit piece biopic on Reagan starring James Brolin

---

I did not see that biopic ( anyone who is a soul-mate of Barbra Steisand is up to no good ). But in what way was this a hit-piece... did the biopic make Reagan look like a war-loving maniac ?

[Cicero]

There couldn’t be a better source for a movie about Reagan than Paul Kengor.

[LongsforReagan]

I will buy a ticket but color me skeptical.

[Frantzie]

Oh please. Go listen to your Tommy Dorsey records while looking at your pictures of Tallulah Bankhead.

Pretty much anything from Hollywood is poison.

[jazusamo]

I didn't see it. Here's an excerpt from the above link "Hollywood Reporter" regarding it.

The "Reagans" miniseries starred James Brolin as the president and was supposed to air on CBS until a controversy erupted over alleged left-wing bias and it was relegated to sibling premium cable outlet Showtime. It was seen by 1.2 million people.

[jazusamo]

There couldn’t be a better source for a movie about Reagan than Paul Kengor.

That's what gives me some hope for this.

[PetroniusMaximus]

You fool! You fell victim to one of the classic blunders - The most famous of which is “never get involved in a land war in Asia” - but only slightly less well-known is this: “Never go against a Sicilian when death is on the line”! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Ha ha ha...

Followed by, “never trust Hollywood”.

[Borges]

Hollywood cinema is a huge part of American culture.

[fatnotlazy]

I was thinking....Jon Voigt as Reagan. With the right hair and makeup he could pull it off.

[jazusamo]

I believe Jon Voigt could do a great job, he certainly has the right frame of mind for it.

[mmercier]

anyone who claims sanity has returned to hollywood has obviously made the clean break between self and reality. pretty much the definition of insanity.

momentary enlightened financial self interest maybe. sanity... not even remotely possible.

[onyx]

Someone signed up here the other night to post this, or similar. I wish I could remember the screen name because he never replied to my questions.

In the interim I have read a good review or background about it at another site.

I think I will search Lakeshark’s forum posts to try to find the posting, since he posts a lot less frequent than yours truly...lol.

[Lockbar]

From your headline I was hoping that 90% of the screen actor’s guild had killed themselves.

[onyx]

Here it is: Ronald Reagan Biopic Planned, posted by MovieRepublic.

[Frantzie]

How many starlets were raped to create that “culture?” Hollywood is a s**thole that will fall in line with the islamists.

[Frantzie]

“For the record, Brolin claims he doesn’t hate Reagan.”

His creepy wife hates Reagan and Christians.

[discostu]

I’ve heard that Zac Effron is starring, he kind of stinks. And that producer has some of the worst movies of the 20th century to his credit.

[jazusamo]

Thanks for the info and the link, onyx. It’s still MovieRepublic’s only post.