Coming soon to a theater near you … "Casino Jack," a dramatization of the Jack Abramoff scandal, with Oscar-winning actor Kevin Spacey portraying the jailed lobbyist. According to Nikki Finke at Deadline Hollywood Daily, the two men spent some of the weekend together chatting:
The story is described to me as a modern day GoodFellas set in Washington DC that plays like a thriller involving Karl Rove and others in former President George W. Bush’s inner circle. Cameras will roll later next month.
I’m told that Kevin Spacey is set to star as Jack Abramoff, Hayden Christensen will play Abramoff’s closest associate Mike Scanlon, Spencer Garrett (Public Enemies) will portray Majority Leader Tom DeLay, and Arrested Development star David Cross will be Abramoff crony Adam Kidan. The production is also in talks with Tea Leoni as Abramoff’s wife.
After weeks of extensive negotiations with Abramoff attorneys and prison officials, Spacey and Hickenlooper were finally granted access late this afternoon for a creative discussion with Abramoff, who is serving a 6-year sentence. Apparently the disgraced former lobbyist, who produced two Dolph Lungren movies in the early 1990s, is a big Spacey fan — ironically citing Usual Suspects as one of his favorite films. Spacey, who is a personal friend of former President Bill Clinton and who couldn’t be more the political opposite of Abramoff, apparently appreciated and respected Abramoff’s openness to talk. According to an insider, “Abramoff was in good spirits and very charming with the actor. For two guys who couldn’t be more different, they seemed to get along very well.”
Because of Son of Sam laws, Abramoff is legally unable to profit from any story told about him. But he apparently agreed to meet with Spacey and Hickenlooper because he believes no one has heard his side of the story. My source tells me, "Jack feels he has nothing to lose if he can at least convey his perspective even if it’s from inside prison walls. Frankly, he feels like he was thrown under the bus by his fellow Republicans, especially John McCain who wanted to use Jack to help sell himself to the American people as the great reformer. The reality is Jack wasn’t doing anything that wasn’t happening on K-Street already. In fact it’s still happening to this day and everybody knows it."
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