Jason Clarke.
John Curran (Praise, The Painted Veil) is in final talks to direct Chappaquiddick, in which Jason Clarke (The Great Gatsby) will star as Senator Ted Kennedy.
As first reported by Deadline, Fifty Shades of Grey's Sam Taylor-Johnson was attached but departed to direct the first two episodes of Netflix pilot Gypsy, starring Naomi Watts.
Chappaquiddick examines the car accident that took the life of Mary Jo Kopechne when Senator Ted Kennedy was at the wheel in the summer of 1969.
After driving off a bridge, Kennedy left the scene of the accident, leaving the 28 year-old Kopechne to drown. Kennedy didn’t report the accident for nine hours.
“Jason Clarke is the perfect choice to take on the complexities of this role,” said producer Mark Ciardi.
“He has unwavering passion and commitment to this project. We’re equally pleased to bring on John Curran to direct. John’s body of work speaks for itself, and he’s such a visionary filmmaker. We’re excited to be working with both of them on this incredible film.”
Ciardi is producing with Campbell McInnes, and DMG’s Chris Cowles and Chris Fenton are executive producing.
Taylor Allen and Andrew Logan wrote the screenplay, featured on The Black List in 2015.
Clarke is repped by Robert Stein Management, WME and RGM Artists in Australia.
Curran is repped by CAA and attorneys Steve Warren and Barry Littman, and managed by HLA Management in Sydney.