With the Republican National Convention laying claim to network television’s nightly output this week, the G.O.P. is on everyone’s minds, and seems to be roping in a few recruits. Maybe it was Ann Romney’s profession of love for Modern Family. Maybe it is the rumors surrounding Clint Eastwood as the RNC’s “mystery” speaker. Maybe it was Paul Ryan’s… no, it probably doesn’t have anything to do with Paul Ryan. But the bandwagon is growing… in a way. The Hollywood Reporter reveals that Michael Douglas has opted to take on the role of President Ronald Reagan for a developing independent film titled Reykjavik.
Reagan has not exactly enjoyed a great deal of reverence when it comes to cinematic depictions. The former president has been parodied time and time again on Saturday Night Live and Family Guy, and films like Back to the Future II, Airplane II, and Hot Shots: Part Deux — the real insult there is that he didn’t even make it into the original movies; he got shafted with the sequels. Reykjavik will of course handle the former POTUS with more severity, although it’s hard to say whether or not the film will take a pointed critique at Reagan’s politics. Douglas, after all, is an outspoken supporter of the Democratic Party and its policies and candidates.
The film will follow the events of a 1986 meeting between Reagan and former Head of State of the Soviet Union Mikhael Gorbachev, which was meant to determine an agreement of peace between the warring nations in the wake of that year’s nuclear disaster in Chernobyl, Ukraine. Reykjavik is the capital of Iceland, whereat the world leaders met to discuss the situation.
Could the RNC have influenced Douglas’ decision to play Reagan? Maybe a sense of new appreciation for the Republican Party swept through the longtime leftist, inspiring him to play the 40th president of the United States. On the other hand, maybe Douglas has taken such grand issue with the policies and presentations of the figures at the RNC, that he felt it his civil duty to take down the party by embodying, in an unsympathetic fashion, the beloved 1980s pres. Or maybe he just thought this might be a good movie. Who knows! Actors, am I right?
The next big question: who will play Gorbachev? Michael Douglas has sparred with some pretty venerable figures in his day. Maybe one of them could take on the role? There’s Charlie Sheen in Wall Street (too crazy); Albert Brooks in The In-Laws (not crazy enough); Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct (too tall); Sean Penn in The Game … that could work!
[Photo Credit: David Edwards/Daily Celeb]
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