If you don't know the name of legendary Hollywood film producer David O. Selznick, peep the guy's resume: two Best Picture award winners in Gone with the Wind and Rebecca. Six other of his films were nominated for the award. Four of those flicks are archived in the National Film Registry. Oh, and he's got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Basically whatever he touched turned the gold, with 22 of his films earning a whopping 82 Academy Award nominations and winning 21 of them. They don't get much bigger than O. Selznick was, and now his life is going to be the subject of an HBO biopic courtesy of Ben Stiller and Oren Moverman(The Messenger).
Show Tracker has the details stating that Moverman and HBO are developing the film, with Stiller only on board as an executive producer at this point. However he's been meeting with the network and Moverman about possibly starring. I don't know if Stiller is a large enough presence for the role, but we'll see. Stiller's improved so much as a dramatic actor over the years(he's great in Greenberg) that I wouldn't put it past him to knock this out of the park.
As if this couldnt' get any better, the script is by Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Donald Margulies. Margulies worked with HBO before back in 2001 with the film adaptation of his play, Dinner With Friends.
So yeah, this one sounds awesome from top to bottom. Selznick lived a hell of a life, effectively turning Alfred Hitchcock into a household name, having a number of high profile creative spats with other producers, and getting into a couple of very visible marriages. He married Gladys Mayer, the daughter of the MGM head honcho, then after they divorced he wed the actress Jennifer Jones(The Song of Bernadette).
Can we just put HBO in charge of all TV movies from here on out? Everything they present turns out to be a winner, and based solely on the subject and the talent this appears to be no different. The only question left is whether or Moverman will direct.
