Jay Roach To Direct Michael Wolff’s Political Trump Drama ‘Fire and Fury’

In these tumultuous times, something like Michael Wolff’s incendiary, detailed account of the chaos in Trump’s administration, “Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House,” was sure to light up the news cycle, and it went off like a megaton bomb. Wolff, who recently said he’s barely a journalist, that his job has “nothing to do with truth” (jfc), essentially pitched a fake misleading, supposedly flattering book to the White House, and in doing so, gained unprecedented access to Trump, the senior staff, and all the surrounding bedlam. Naturally, as “Fire and Fury” skyrocketed to the #1 New York Times best-seller list, Hollywood came crashing to the front door.

The movie adaptation has just been given the go-ahead. According to THR, director Jay Roach, known for his mega-successful comedies, (“Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me,” and “Meet the Parents“) has, but also his recent transition into serious political dramas (“Game Change“) been tapped to direct and executive produce a TV adaptation of Wolff’s book. No network is involved just yet in this project, but HBO already released “Game Change,” the drama of the failed presidential campaign get John McCain elected (and how Sarah Palin helped totally fuck that up), so perhaps the cable channel is a possibility.

Although Roach made his career comedy, he has quickly become the go-to-director for political re-dramatizations on television, which have earned him four Emmy Awards. His film “Recount,” about 2000’s Gore vs Bush voting debacle, and the Lyndon B. Johnson biopic, “All the Way.” each earned him two Emmys. All of his experience in political dramas will serve Roach well, but the comedy background will likely help sharp edges of the White House theatrics, the disarray, the backstabbings and all the inept tumult surrounding the Trump transition phase (not that it’s gotten much better). Roach works fast with these timely projects, so if a network signs on soon, perhaps it’s something we could see before year’s end.