Oliver Stone’s Next Film: George W. Bush’s Rise from Alcoholic Bum to President

Oliver Stone is set to begin production on his next film, a biopic of George W. Bush. Stone has only to get it financed, with the major players in place. The script for the film, simply titled Bush, was written by Wall Street co-writer, Stanley Weiser. Josh Brolin (No Country for Old Men) is attached to play the President.

Martin Borman and Jon Kilik, producers who teamed with Stone on World Trade Center and Alexander, will do so again for Bush. The three had planned to collaborate on Stone’s return to the Vietnam War with Pinkville, until United Artists pulled the plug on that movie. In fact, much of the same crew that was set to begin production on Pinkville will stay on to film Bush.

Variety reports that the script for the film was complete prior to the WGA strike, so filming could start as early as April with a release date that could fall near the next Presidential election or inauguration.

Some of Stone’s thoughts about the film, courtesy of Variety:

It’s a behind-the-scenes approach, similar to Nixon, to give a sense of what it’s like to be in his skin,” Stone told Daily Variety. “But if Nixon was a symphony, this is more like a chamber piece, and not as dark in tone. People have turned my political ideas into a cliche, but that is superficial. I’m a dramatist who is interested in people, and I have empathy for Bush as a human being, much the same as I did for Castro, Nixon, Jim Morrison, Jim Garrison and Alexander the Great.

Here, I’m the referee, and 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.

Hmmm…I don’t know about anyone else, but my dislike for George W. is so intense that I’ll probably avoid this film.