Diane Lane will play Hillary Clinton in a new miniseries ordered by NBC. The four-hour show will be titled Hillary, NBC president Bob Greenblatt revealed at the 2013 Summer Press Tour on Saturday.
According to a press release obtained by E! Online, the miniseries will focus on Clinton’s life as “a wife, mother, politician and cabinet member from 1998 to the present.” This time period would include her run as Democratic presidential candidate alongside Barack Obama in 2008, as well as her stint as U.S. Secretary of State. She resigned that office earlier this year as she had no desire to serve a second term, and was replaced by John Kerry. The network aims for the series to premiere before Clinton’s likely announcement as a presidential candidate for the 2016 election.
The announcement comes as broadcast networks look to differentiate themselves from the high dramas that cable networks have been focusing on, such as AMC’s “Breaking Bad” and “Mad Men.” Greenblatt estimates that broadcast television is losing four to seven percent of its audience annually.
“We need to be in the event business. I think you’re going to hear that from every broadcast network,” Greenblatt revealed to The Washington Post, adding, “Anything that can shake up the landscape and say, ‘we have something special’ would be considered part of the varied group of event projects.”
Among other so-called “event” projects announced were a four-hour adaption of “Rosemary’s Baby,” an adaptation of “The Tommyknockers,” by Stephen King, and a show about the Pilgrim’s journey to America entitled “Plymouth.” A six-hour miniseries about Cleopatra is also said to be in development.
Greenblatt declined to comment on how the Clinton miniseries might affect the upcoming election. While Clinton has announced no intentions of running for President, Greenblatt spoke as if it were a foregone conclusion.
The Dallas News notes that Clinton’s spokesperson Nick Merrill said the former secretary of state was unaware of the miniseries, while Greenblatt said the network had literally just closed the deal and doubted that Clinton would endorse it.
Casting for Clinton’s husband, President Bill Clinton, has not been announced yet.