Tom Hanks is on board a new miniseries being set up at premium cable network HBO in a producing role. The miniseries will be set around the 2016 Presidential election race, and the intense rivalry between Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton and Republican candidate Donald Trump, ultimately (and unfortunately) ending in Trump’s victory.
Latest in many TV projects about the election
The 2016 election was fraught with international betrayals and deceit and intrigue and “alternative facts,” so it should make perfect fodder for TV. That’s why a political reporter has written a spec script for a limited series about Trump’s campaign that’s led to a bidding war from networks, and why Ryan Murphy has decided to create the next season of “American Horror Story” inspired by the Clinton/Trump race (although not directly based on them or featuring them as characters; it’s more of a thematic inspiration), and why Hanks and HBO have decided to team up for a miniseries about it.
The new HBO miniseries is going to be adapted from the upcoming third instalment of Mark Halperin and John Heilemann’s “Game Change” political nonfiction book series. The book is yet to be published, but will be hitting bookshelves early next year. Hanks’ miniseries will debut shortly afterwards, but the premiere date has yet to be officially set.
No word on casting
The roles of Trump and Clinton have yet to be cast, but it’s unlikely that Hanks will step into the role of Trump and will likely remain solely in his position as a producer. But despite a lack of actors, a director has been set for the miniseries. Jay Roach, who directed another “Game Change” adaptation for HBO and last year directed their wonderful President Lyndon B.
Johnson biopic “All the Way” starring Bryan Cranston. Roach will also act as executive producer on the new project.
President of HBO Films, Len Amato, released a statement saying he is “thrilled” to be continuing his working relationship with authors Halperin and Heilemann, praising them for “(setting) the bar for political reporting and storytelling inside a Presidential campaign. The new miniseries will, according to Amato, “vividly capture the most unique and impactful event in modern American politics.” Hanks is also working on another project in response to Trump, teaming with Steven Spielberg and Meryl Streep for “The Post,” about the important role of journalists (or “the enemy of the American people”) in politics.