Producers Mark Joseph, Ralph Winter, and Jonas McCord Plan Ronald Reagan Biopic

Producers Mark Joseph (Ray), Ralph Winter (X-Men Origins: Wolverine), and Jonas McCord (Ask the Dust) have begun work on a biopic of Ronald Reagan.  THR reports that the $30 million film will be based off the Reagan biographies The Crusader and God and Ronald Reagan.  While the 40th president was the subject of a controversial 2003 miniseries starring James Brolin, this new take have little in common with that approach.  The film will begin with the 1981 assassination attempt and then tell Reagan’s story through flashbacks and flash-forwards.  It is unknown if we’ll learn that Reagan had left the island and screamed at Nancy that they had to go back.

Hit the jump for my thoughts on the potential pitfalls of a Reagan biopic.

I don’t see a Ronald Reagan biopic succeeding and it wasn’t because people didn’t like the miniseries, which was, to quote Joseph, “an insulting, condescending movie about a much-loved historical figure.”  If you take it in the other direction, then liberals are going to groan at the hero worship.  No one is going to want an “honest” Reagan movie.  The country is so politically divided that the movie won’t be good enough for Republicans unless every member of the production swears a blood oath on a the Gipper’s grave, and it won’t be good enough for liberals unless it hammers home every single thing Teflon Ronnie did wrong while in office.

I believe a good general rule for biopics of U.S. Presidents is that the former President doesn’t get one until he’s been dead for at least one hundred years.  If anyone is up for making a William McKinley biopic, you are more than welcome to proceed.