Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein caused a stir in political circles on Thursday by announcing plans for a movie to take down the National Rifle Association. He didn’t have many details to share, other than that it will star Meryl Streep. However, more details were revealed later in the day and Texas Senator Ted Cruz is already calling Weinstein a hypocrite for making it.
On Thursday morning, Weinstein told Howard Stern that he and Streep are going to make a movie that will take the gun issue “head-on” and make the NRA “wish they weren’t alive after I’m done with them.” The August: Osage County producer even compared the film to Mr. Smith Goes To Washington, which exposed backroom politics in the late 1930s.
After the interview, Deadline revealed that the movie is called The Senator’s Wife. It is going to center on how the NRA worked in Washington D.C. to stop gun legislation following the tragedies in Newtown, Conn. and Aurora, Colo. The site notes that Weinstein is hoping to attract other top talent for the production.
Meanwhile, the right is already criticizing Weinstein, who has produced such violent films as Kill Bill, Pulp Fiction and Django Unchained, all by Quentin Tarantino.
Kill Bill is “one of the most epically violent scenes,” Cruz told Fox News’ Greta Van Susteren, notes Politico. “But you don’t see people wanting to ban knives.”
Cruz noted that Weinstein probably lives in a wealthy part of Los Angeles, adding, “He says he doesn’t own a gun, but I bet you there’s a good odd that he has armed security around him.” Cruz later added, “We have a right to protect ourselves. It’s protected in the Constitution. Even if liberal Hollywood types want to take it away, it isn’t going anywhere.”
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