With his smarts, boyish good looks and eventual political scandal, John Edwards seemed to have been made for one of those great prime time soaps. Instead his story is headed to the big screen.
Political screenwriter Aaron Sorkin has acquired the rights to the Andrew Young book about the disgraces presidential candidate, "The Politician: An Insider's Account of John Edwards's Pursuit of the Presidency and the Scandal That Brought Him Down."
The Hollywood Reporter states that Sorkin will make his feature directorial debut with the project, which he will also direct and produce.
You cannot get a better witness to the rise and National Enquirer-led flameout of Edwards than this -- Young was a volunteer for Edwards' Senate campaign in 1998 and later a trusted confidante who took the fall for Edwards during the 2008 presidential campaign. In the kind of tale that would seem far-fetched if you saw it on "Dallas," Young falsely claimed he was the father of the illegitimate child of Rielle Hunter. Now that is what you call a stand-up fall guy.
In both "The American President" and the television series "The West Wing," Sorkin has shown a flare for bringing out the complexity and the charisma of the folks we entrust with political power. In this case, we likely will not need the swelling, majestic music he used on West Wing. Sorkin never would have dreamed of putting his "West Wing" president Martin Sheen in a situation where he was running from tabloid reporters in the Beverly Hills Hotel. He has some pretty explosive source material to work with on this.
"This is a first-hand account of an extraordinary story filled with motivations, decisions and consequences that would have lit Shakespeare up," Sorkin told THR. "There's much more to Andrew's book than what has been reported, and I'm grateful that he's trusting me with it."
Among the multitude of questions surrounding the exciting news of this project include the whopper: who will play Edwards? Also, America's tragic hero Elizabeth Edwards isn't portrayed particularly kindly in the book. How will she come off on screen in this version and who will play her? Let the speculation begin.
