With Fox News having now been on the airwaves for over 20 years, its former CEO, the late Roger Ailes, will soon find himself the subject of two different projects. Last month, it was announced that Russell Crowe has been tapped to play Ailes in a Showtime limited series chronicling the last decade of the media mogul's life (with flashbacks thrown in), but there is also a movie in the works that focuses on Ailes' final years. As for who will play Ailes on the big screen, John Lithgow has secured that job.
According to Variety, John Lithgow has been tapped to portray Roger Ailes in the untitled Ailes movie from Annapurna, which will follow Ailes' fall from power after numerous female employees at Fox News and other women accused him of sexual harassment in 2016, most notably former Fox News anchor Gretchen Carlson, who alleged that she'd been fired for not giving in to Ailes' advances. This and the other allegations ultimately led to him resigning from the network. Ailes passed away a year later at age 77. Unlike the Showtime limited series, this movie will not delve into Ailes' entire life, and it will be told from the perspective of the women who spoke out against him rather than him being the central character.
Roger Ailes is far from the first real-life figure that John Lithgow has portrayed. His other notable credits in that regard include playing Walter J. Skinner in A Civil Action, Blake Edwards in The Life and Death of Peter Sellers, Franklin D. Roosevelt in World War II: When Lions Roared and Winston Churchill in The Crown (for which he recently won an Emmy). Outside the realm of history, Lithgow's recent appearances include The Accountant, Miss Sloane, Daddy's Home 2, Pitch Perfect 3 and Trial & Error. In addition to this Fox News movie, Lithgow will also play Jud Crandall in the Pet Sematary remake, as well as star in the Mindy Kaling-directed Late Night.
John Lithgow isn't the only big name attached to Annapurna's Fox News movie. The cast also includes Nicole Kidman as Gretchen Carlson, Charlize Theron (who is also attached as a producer) as Megyn Kelly and Margot Robbie as a fictional Fox News producer. Trumbo's Jay Roach is directing the movie and The Big Short's Charles Randolph penned the script.
No release date has been set for this Fox News movie yet, but stay tuned to CinemaBlend for more updates about the project, including who else will pad out the cast. In the meantime, if you're interested in planning your trips to the movie theater for the rest of the year, look through our 2018 release schedule for information on all the biggest releases still to come in the near future.
