James Mangold’s Patty Hearst Biopic Starring Elle Fanning Canceled By Fox

Well, it was certainly promising. James Mangold (“Logan,” “Walk The Line“) taking on the Patty Hearst story with Elle Fanning in the lead role? Sign us up. Alas, the powers that be have given it the axe.

Fox has canceled the biopic, which was set up at their Fox 2000 shingle. The project would’ve been based on based on the book “American Heiress” by Jeffrey Toobin (“The Run of His Life: The People v. O. J. Simpson”), which a script by acclaimed duo Larry Karaszewski and Scott Alexander (“Man On The Moon,” “Ed Wood,” “The People vs. Larry Flynt“), that would detail the kidnapping of Patty Hearst in 1974 by the Symbionese Liberation Army. Hearst would shock the world when it was revealed she wound up joining the revolutionaries, participating in their crimes.

Hearst herself objected to the project, claiming that Toobin’s book “romanticizes my rape and torture and calls my abduction a ‘rollicking adventure’ ” adding she was “saddened and appalled” that anybody would back the project. She has also spoken out against CNN’s upcoming documentary series, “The Radical Story of Patty Hearst,” which is still slated to start airing on February 11th.

“I refuse to give Jeffrey Toobin, 21st Century Fox, CNN or anyone else involved in these projects about my life the power to make me a victim again, or the power to provide a platform where victim blaming is OK,” Hearst stated.

Never one without projects to fall back on, Mangold has a few options including the live action/CGI kids’ movie “Crenshaw,” the remake of “Disorder,” and the adaptation of Don Winslow‘s “The Force.” Fanning has a handful of films in post-production, and she’ll likely been busy across the festival circuit this year. [THR]