W. (2008 film)

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W.

Teaser Poster
Directed by Oliver Stone
Produced by Moritz Borman
Jon Kilik
Bill Block
Oliver Stone
Written by Stanley Weiser
Oliver Stone
Starring Josh Brolin
Elizabeth Banks
James Cromwell
Ellen Burstyn
Distributed by Lionsgate
Release date(s) October 17, 2008
Language English
Budget US$30 million[1]
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

W. is a film in production based on the life and presidency of George W. Bush. It will be directed by Oliver Stone and star Josh Brolin as George W. Bush. Stone has compared his goal for W. to the approaches of The Queen (2006) and his own Nixon (1995). Filming began on May 12, 2008 in Louisiana and will be released for the presidential election on October 17, 2008.[2]


Contents

[edit] Cast

Richard Dreyfuss is currently in final negotiations to play Vice President Dick Cheney.[5] Stone was interested in Robert Duvall for the role, but he turned it down.[6]

[edit] Production

"I want a fair, true portrait of the man. How did Bush go from an alcoholic bum to the most powerful figure in the world? It's like Frank Capra territory on one hand, but I'll also cover the demons in his private life, his bouts with his dad and his conversion to Christianity, which explains a lot of where he is coming from. It includes his belief that God personally chose him to be president of the United States, and his coming into his own with the stunning, preemptive attack on Iraq. It will contain surprises for Bush supporters and his detractors."
Oliver Stone[7]

Director Oliver Stone was originally attached to direct Pinkville, a film about the Army's investigation of the My Lai Massacre, but development was canceled due to the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike and actor Bruce Willis pulling out of the film three weeks before shooting was set to start.[8] As a result, United Artists shut the production down. Stone moved on to direct a film about the life and presidency of George W. Bush, shopping a script that had been written before the strike by Stanley Weiser, who had co-written Wall Street (1987) with Stone. Weiser and Stone read 17 books as part of their research for the script,[1] and worked on the project for a year before venturing to film Pinkville.[7] Stone has admitted that he and Weiser had to speculate on some dialogue: "You take all the facts and take the spirit of the scene and make it accurate to what you think happened".[8] W. is being financed independently, with Chinese, German, and Australian funds. Lionsgate is rumored to have made a deal to distribute the film.[8]

Though Stone has criticized Bush for the administration's 2003 invasion of Iraq, the director said that he was not looking to make an "anti-Bush polemic". Stone compared his goal of the film to The Queen (2006), wanting to trace "seminal events in Bush's life". According to the director, "It's a behind-the-scenes approach, similar to Nixon (1995), to give a sense of what it's like to be in his skin. But if Nixon was a symphony, this is more like a chamber piece, and not as dark in tone."[7]

The film, originally titled Bush,[7] was re-titled W.[3] Filming began on May 12, 2008[2] in Shreveport, Louisiana and will likely wrap June 20, 2008[9] The film will be released for the presidential election on October 17, 2008.[2] The film's producers are reportedly planning to run TV spots for the film opposite John McCain's ads this fall.[8]

Josh Brolin portrays George W. Bush
Josh Brolin portrays George W. Bush

On May 13, 2008 the New York Post published excerpts from an early draft of the script. The column, written by Cindy Adams, stated “Pro-Bushies will hate it, antis will love it.”[10]

Stone has described the structure of W. as a three-act film starting with Bush as a young man "with a missed life", followed by his transformation and "an assertion of will which was amazingly powerful" as he came out from his father's shadow, and finally his invasion of Iraq.[11] The director has described the tone of the film to be in the vein of Network or Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb.[11]

[edit] Casting

Josh Brolin spent months working on the president's distinctive vocal style, calling hotels in Texas and talking to the people at the front desk, listening to their accents. The actor has also been watching video of Bush walking. Brolin said, "It changes over the years, how he walks in his 30s, how he walks in foreign lands, before 9/11 and afterwards. People hold their emotions in their bodies. They can't fake it. Especially him".[8] Elizabeth Banks has said that she will not do an impression of the First Lady Laura Bush. "I just want to honor her voice, her stillness, and her hairstyle".[8]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Stephen Galloway, Matthew Belloni. "Bush biographers mixed on script for Oliver Stone's W", The Hollywood Reporter, 2008-04-07. Retrieved on 2008-04-12. 
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Fleming, Michael. "Lionsgate books Oliver Stone's W", Variety, 2008-05-08. Retrieved on 2008-05-09. 
  3. ^ a b c d e Fleming, Michael. "Oliver Stone casts parents of W", Variety, March 26, 2008. Retrieved on 2008-03-27. 
  4. ^ Jacks, Brian. "EXCLUSIVE: Rob Corddry Lands Role Of Press Secretary Ari Fleischer In Oliver Stone’s ‘W’", MTV, 2008-04-09. Retrieved on 2008-04-09. 
  5. ^ Richard Dreyfuss heads to the White House
  6. ^ Sperling, Nicole. "Oliver Stone's George W. Bush biopic coming together", Entertainment Weekly, March 26, 2008. Retrieved on 2008-03-28. 
  7. ^ a b c d Michael Fleming. "Oliver Stone votes for 'Bush' project", Variety, 2008-01-20. Retrieved on 2008-03-28. 
  8. ^ a b c d e f Benjamin Svetkey. "First Look: W, Oliver Stone's Bush Biopic", Entertainment Weekly, 2008-05-07. Retrieved on 2008-05-08. 
  9. ^ Kent, Alexandyr. "Oliver Stone's W. to film in Shreveport", The Shreveport Times, March 26, 2008. Retrieved on 2008-03-26. 
  10. ^ Adams, Cindy. "Film Has A Few Words About Our President", New York Post, May 13, 2008. Retrieved on 2008-05-13. 
  11. ^ a b Goodridge, Mike. "Interview: Oliver Stone", Screen Daily, May 30, 2008. Retrieved on 2008-06-02. 

[edit] External links


v • d • e
Films directed by Oliver Stone
Feature films
Seizure (1974) • The Hand (1981) • Salvador (1986) • Platoon (1986) • Wall Street (1987) • Talk Radio (1988) • Born on the Fourth of July (1989) • The Doors (1991) • JFK (1991) • Heaven & Earth (1993) • Natural Born Killers (1994) • Nixon (1995) • U Turn (1997) • Any Given Sunday (1999) • Alexander (2004) • World Trade Center (2006) • W. (2008)
Documentaries
Persona Non Grata (TV 2003) • Comandante (2003) • Looking for Fidel (2004)
Languages