Bill Carter of The New York Times placed a plot twist in front of RNC chairman Reince Priebus: “Fox May Produce Clinton Biopic Reviled by GOP.”
What happens if the Fox Entertainment people in Hollywood make the Hillary film for NBC? Does that result in no Fox News debates? Perhaps Rupert Murdoch might want to watch the chatter on this:
While NBC has come under heavy fire, especially from Republican critics, for agreeing to broadcast the series, the project may wind up being produced by another company: Fox Television Studios, the sister company of the conservative favorite, Fox News.
Leslie Oren, a spokesman for FTVS, as the studio is known, confirmed that NBC is in “the early stages” of discussions to bring the Fox unit in as the production company on the as yet unnamed mini-series, which will star Diane Lane as Mrs. Clinton.
“There is no deal yet,” Ms. Oren said. But should a deal be completed, FTVS would become the distributor of the film internationally. FTVS is the production arm of 21st Century Fox’s entertainment group.
It's quite possible the NBC film will never be completed, or will end up on another NBC-Universal channel like USA. Carter has the trail from where it started:
[T]he project began as an idea hatched by Sherryl Clark, an independent producer. She took the idea of a Clinton movie to a company named Endgame, which finances and produces television programs and movies. The chairman of Endgame, James D. Stern, agreed to pick up the project with both he and Ms. Clark attached as executive producers.
They sought out a writer/director for the project as well as a star. In both cases they attracted Oscar nominees. Courtney Hunt, who wrote and directed the well-regarded independent film “Frozen River,” signed on to the project. Also, Diane Lane, who was nominated for an Academy Award for “Unfaithful,” agreed to play Mrs. Clinton.
A spokeswoman for Endgame, Gina Lang, said the project was then pitched around Hollywood to several broadcast and cable networks. Another executive involved in the project said several networks expressed interest. But NBC offered the best deal.
The chairman of NBC Entertainment, Robert Greenblatt, announced the acquisition of the project on July 27, one day after the deal with Endgame was concluded. Mr. Greenblatt said at the time that NBC would ensure the movie was on the air before Mrs. Clinton formally declared for the presidency to avoid any demands from other candidates for equal time.
