'Crash' duo ride Whitewater
Moresco, Harris write McDougal tale
More Articles:
Most Viewed:
Fall Out Boy still standing(5438 views)Super Bowl ad surprise(1781 views)Valentine's Day(1768 views)Super Bowl breaks ratings record(1715 views)'Dear John' tackles 'Avatar' at box office(1341 views)Michael Chiklis is 'Family'(1098 views) |
McDougal spent 21 months in prison on civil contempt of court charges for refusing to implicate President Bill Clinton in the real estate scandal.
Moresco will write the script and direct. Harris and Moresco, who produced "Crash," will produce the McDougal film together.
They've secured rights to McDougal's story, as well as her book "The Woman Who Wouldn't Talk." The film may be ready next year and would bring Whitewater back to public consciousness at a time when Hillary Clinton vies to secure the Democratic Party nomination for president.
Former president Clinton nevertheless supports the film, said Moresco and Harris.
"We sat in a room with him, and he told us how much the story needs to be told," Moresco said. "He even gave us his take on the movie -- that when you face impossible odds as Susan did, the only way you can achieve victory is to not lose sight of who you are. That is what Susan never gave up."
The duo will look to align a financier quickly and may have an actress in line to play McDougal by the time they make that deal.
The Clintons were partners in the Whitewater real estate venture with McDougal and her husband. She was convicted on fraud and conspiracy charges along with her husband and then-Arkansas governor Jim Guy Tucker. Clinton eventually pardoned McDougal.
"Bobby and I are fascinated with the underdog, the small person who goes up against a system that manipulates anything, from the press to the court system, and can ruin the lives of innocent people," Harris said.
Both Moresco and Harris acknowledge McDougal isn't squeaky clean because of her original conviction."No matter what side of the aisle you come down on, you have to admire a woman who is willing to spend that much time in prison to stand up for what she believed was the truth," Moresco said. Pic becomes the second recent project about a woman who gets caught in the crosshairs of high-level politics. Warner Bros. is developing "Fair Game," a film about outed CIA operative Valerie Plame.
Moresco co-wrote "Crash" with Haggis. He most recently directed the film "10th & Wolf" and also exec produced and wrote seven episodes of Haggis-produced TV series "The Black Donnellys." Harris was co-exec producer of the skein.
