You can’t pin down David Gordon Green, who loves to zig and zag between pictures. This year, he released the Boston marathon bombing pic “Stronger,” and he’s following it next year with the “Halloween” rebootquel. True to form, the filmmaker is pivoting yet again, with another project that finds him turning in a different direction.
Deadline reports that Green will direct “Newsflash,” but perhaps the most remarkable thing about the movie is that it will star Seth Rogen as legendary news anchor Walter Cronkite. Penned by Ben Jacoby (“Borderland,” “Bleed“), the movie will dive into the CBS newsroom around the time of the assassination of John F. Kennedy. It will detail that tragic moment — and Cronkite’s delivery of the news to a shocked nation — against the backdrop of network politics, as the higher-ups considered ankling Cronkite and the entire evening news. Mark Ruffalo is being sought to play Cronkite’s producer Don Hewitt, with Bryan Cranston eyed for the “villain” role of their boss Jim Aubrey. For Rogen it will mark a step forward in dramatic leading role fare, but he showed his chops as Steve Wozniak in “Steve Jobs,” so he should be in good form here with this challenging part.
Everything is spinning fast, with financing expected to line up soon. In fact, if all goes according to plan, Green will shoot “Newsflash” in the spring and have it ready for cinemas in November, coinciding with the 55th anniversary of JFK’s assassination. That’s right, along with “Halloween,” that means Green will release two movies in 2018. Look out Ridley Scott, Green is coming for your two-movies-in-one-year crown.