On the heels of actor Will Ferrell pulling out of a planned “Alzheimer’s comedy” about Ronald Reagan comes news that Hollywood is preparing a feature film about late Senator Ted Kennedy and the drowning of Mary Jo Kopechne at Chappaquiddick.
Australian-born “Zero Dark Thirty” star Jason Clarke will portray Kennedy in “Chappaquiddick” — the film’s working title — and John Curran, whose credits include “The Painted Veil,” will direct, said the movie’s co-producer and Apex Entertainment president and chief executive Mark Ciardi. Production is slated to begin around Labor Day with a tentative release in late 2017.
Ciardi noted that younger generations may not know about the story. “In some parts it will be educational, that, wow, in 1969 this happened, with the moon landing in the backdrop, this event happened and how everything kind of played out after that,” he said.
But the film will not be a “political” movie. “I certainly wouldn’t characterize it as just a political movie at all,” said Ciardi.