Nixon Returns With Oliver Stone’s Nixon Movie Set To Roll This Spring, Other Film Biographies Are Pending
Richard Nixon is back. No less than three major Hollywood projects focusing on the late - and highly controversial - president are in the works. The Nixon race heated up last week with the news that Anthony Hopkins may soon sign to play the title role in Oliver Stone’s “Nixon.”
The other Nixon projects are a TV movie at HBO produced by Nixon interviewer David Frost - and “The Passion of Richard Nixon,” a feature looking for a new home now that Hollywood Pictures has put the project into turnaround.
Should Stone’s project get before the cameras, the race will probably be reduced with “Passion” dropping out.
Hopkins and Stone have discussed the writer-director’s project for some time. One of the major difficulties has been time contraints. Hopkins starts another very demanding biographical film, Warner Bros.’ “Surviving Picasso” - again in the title role - in France next August for director James Ivory.
But, sources said, the latest draft of the script by Stone encouraged Hopkins to reconsider playing the only American president to resign from office under threat of impeachment.
Stone’s “Nixon” project, produced by the director’s Ixtlan and Arnon Milchan’s New Regency Productions, would be distributed by Warner Bros. It could roll as early as April.
Hopkins’ ICM agent, Ed Limato, did not return phone calls. Stone and New Regency declined to comment.
The “Nixon” project has been so supersecret at Ixtlan that some drafts of the script bear only the title “Project X.” The script has gone through several rewrites by the original authors, Stephen J. Rivele and Christopher Wilkinson, and is now being revised by Stone himself. Political journalist Robert Scheer is serving as a consultant on Stone’s project.
The movie opens with the Watergate burglary, then flashes back to various incidents in Nixon’s life including his youth in Orange County, the early California campaigns and his use of TV throughout his political career such as the so-called “Checkers” speech.
HBO’s project is being written by Robert Bolt for producer Frost. This project reportedly covers Nixon’s career up to his election to the presidency in 1968. It will film this year.
“The Passion of Richard Nixon,” to be produced by Nick Wechsler, Laurie Parker and Pierce Gardner under executive producer David Permut, actually surfaced four years ago. Developed at Hollywood Pictures, “Passion” was put into turnaround by Disney motion picture chairman Joe Roth.
Written by Christopher Cleveland, “Passion” also covers much of Nixon’s childhood and career until he wins the presidency. Tom Hanks is said to have been interested in the project at one time.
“We’re hovering, waiting to see if Oliver is doing his (Nixon project),” said Wechsler. “We’ve had interest expressed in this project, but I doubt if another studio wants to compete with Stone’s project.”
The only previous film treatment of Nixon was Robert Atlman’s 1984 “Secret Honor,” a film record of Philip Baker Hall’s one-man show about Nixon.