Swaggering around like a major Hollywood studio — which it pretty much is these days — HBO has added another big name to upcoming political drama “Game Change.”
THR reports that Woody Harrelson has come aboard the project, and while he won’t have the juicy political leader roles of his castmates (we think he could’ve made a kick ass John Edwards), he instead takes on the part of Steve Schmidt, John McCain’s senior campaign strategist and adviser. For those not up on political inside baseball, Schmidt replaced Rick Davis as campaign manager in the midst of John McCain’s campaign, immediately bringing a much more brash, in your face style to the team and savvier mind for engaging with media (ie. Bristol Palin’s pregnancy was announced on the same weekend as Hurricane Gustav was poised to hit the Gulf Coast). And of late, Schmidt has made no secret of his low opinion of Palin telling CNN that if she ran for President in 2012 it would be “catastrophic.”
Harrelson joins Julianne Moore (as Palin) and Ed Harris (as McCain) and we’re eager to see how the casting for the Democratic side of the equation will go. Jay Roach, who helmed the 2000 election tale “Recount” for HBO, has reunited with the writer of that film, Danny Strong, for “Game Change,” which is based on the best-seller by John Heilemann and Mark Halperin, and will track the 2008 election on both sides. It was certainly one of more dramatic political races in recent memory and especially with the personalities involved, it should be a fantastic watch.
No firm production dates have bee revealed, but the film is expected to lens this spring/summer likely for 2012 release.
I\’m glad they\’re giving weight to the important figures that aren\’t as immediately recognizable; if it\’s entirely focused on the actual candidates, there\’s a risk of this looking like SNL played straight (or \”W\” Syndrome, as I call it).