Hillary Clinton Biopic RODHAM Still Moving Forward

Despite the demise of two high-profile television projects about former First Lady and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton that were being developed for television, the in-development theatrical biopic Rodham is still moving forward.

The New York Times is reporting that director James Ponsoldt’s project that will look at the younger days of the political figure when she was a Washington DC lawyer working on the Watergate investigation while being courted by a young ambitious Arkansas political hopeful by the name of Bill has not been affected by the some of the problems that plagued a planned documentary for CNN and a miniseries for NBC to which Diane Lane was attached. The CNN documentary would have relied heavily on interviews with people who are within the Clinton circle, they were not forthcoming, so the decision was made to pull the plug. Rodham, meanwhile, is based on public information already known about the politican, so there is no need for any kind of approval or cooperation from Clinton is needed.

Rodham first came up on the radar late last year, when it placed fourth on the year’s Black List, the list of the top unproduced screenplays currently circulating around Hollywood. Ponsoldt and screenwriter Young Il Kim are currently looking for financing for the project, which will probably come soon after they lock an actress to play the title role. Carey Mulligan had been Ponsoldt’s first choice for the role, but after she passed, the director approached his The Spectacular Now star Brie Larson about the part, though she has not committed to it yet.

Currently Ponsoldt and Kim are rewriting the screenplay, reportedly with an eye towards expanding the romance storyline between Rodham and her future-husband Bill Clinton.