Matt Damon has reportedly been wanting to make a Robert F. Kennedy biopic for years, being attached in some fashion to the film since 2010, and it may finally be coming together.
Warner Bros. have recruited director Nikolaj Arcel to helm the project, currently titled RFK, just weeks before his Stephen King adaptation, The Dark Tower, is set to hit cinemas.
Arcel has reportedly also helped pen the script alongside Felipe Marino (The Hallow) and Rasmus Heisterberg (2009’s The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo). Production is set to kick off next year.
The film had originally been set up at New Regency with Gary Ross directing and Steven Knight writing the screenplay, until that version of the project fell apart. Damon remained interested in the role, being quoted in 2014 as saying:
“If they could figure out a way to do Bobby Kennedy, I would love to do that. I just love that guy, and the incredible things he was saying at the end of his life. he’s a really interesting figure but it’s just so hard to do those biopics without them being cumbersome. it’s very difficult to [put his story] into two hours”.
Robert F. Kennedy was the younger brother of former President John F. Kennedy, serving as the U.S. attorney general under two Presidents and was a vocal advocate for the civil rights movement. He became a New York senator, and was in the midst of a Presidential campaign of his own before he was assassinated.
Considering how America loves the biopic and one about a famed political figure is sure to attract Oscar interest, it’s a little surprising the project has taken this long to get off the ground. With Damon on board, an actor who rarely delivers a dud, this could have the potential to rise above the typical biopic clichés and be something genuinely engrossing.
Arcel’s The Dark Tower arrives Friday, August 4.
#Peace.Love.RFK
