Barbra Streisand's bid to have CBS trash Ronald and Nancy Reagan by airing a movie produced by her Reagan-hating proteges may have failed, but Hollywood isn't giving up on smearing Republicans.
The Arts & Entertainment cable network is planning to trash Gov.-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger next year in a biopic tentatively titled "See Arnold Run."
A&E's vice president of film drama and performing arts, Delia Fine, said Friday that the Schwarzenegger film would include scenes of his womanizing and abusive behavior toward women.
"So much of it is in the public record, and he's obviously admitted to some of it," Fine told Newsday. The A&E VP will reportedly serve as the film's executive producer.
Despite its depiction of the California Republican as a sexual predator, Fine insisted that her film won't be politically biased. "It's interesting to me that these are automatically perceived as political movies, but that's not my take on it at all," she told Newsday. "There's no political agenda here."
A&E's so-far uncast Schwarzenegger movie will cover his years since coming to America, ending with his election as governor of California, the paper said. "This is one of those stranger-than-fiction stories that you just couldn't make up," explained another A&E executive.
According to Broadcasting & Cable, an industry trade publication, the network is "fast-tracking" production on the Schwarzenegger biopic to time the release for next summer, just as Schwarzenegger is set to hit the campaign trail with President Bush.
A&E is also planning a film on Sen. Hillary Clinton based on Gail Sheehy's largely sympathetic biography "Hillary's Choice." The film is set to star Sharon Stone.
Though Ms. Fine said A&E had no contact with Sen. Clinton about the film, Clinton has endorsed Stone for the lead role.
"She's a good actress and she certainly is beautiful," the top Democrat told a New York radio station in July. "How do I complain about that?"
After Sheehy penned "Hillary's Choice" in 1999, she donated thousands of dollars to the former first lady's Senate election campaign.
"I think Gail's book is remarkably well-balanced and she did a hell of a job on her research," Fine told Newsday.
Editor's note:
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Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:
2004 Elections
California Governor's Race
CBS's "The Reagans"
Media Bias
Sen. Hillary Clinton
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