Currently in post-production with The Hereafter, the Warner Bros. thriller that I think has a legitimate shot at a Cannes showing, Clint Eastwood might be turning back the years to another period pic that would would receive the same product value that The Changeling did. The trades report that he is considering making this Dustin Lance Black’s penned untitled J.Edgar Hoover biopic as his next project.
Not sure if Black was in the midst of writing this project while Michael Mann was in the middle of working Public Enemies, he might have actually just began writing the project after completing the filming of his debut film, What’s Wrong with Virginia (which I also think has a shot at a Cannes showing) but it’ll be interesting to how many years this biopic spans as J. Edgar Hoover career with the FBI spanned several decades, and if the script does cross over into the epic battle he faced with John Dillilnger. I’d personally love to see Billy Crudup get a call back for what would be a meatier role this time out, but seeing as both Milk and Eastwood have connections to Sean Penn, I’d say he is a frontrunner for the role, unfortunately he doesn’t look the part.
Who would you cast as Hoover? Would you recast Billy Crudup? Are you hoping that this explores Hoover’s intimate life or his epic battles with anti-communist years (also known as the Cointelpro) or would you return to his fight against gangsterism a few decades earlier?
