Paramount Television has picked Dustin Lance Black, who won an Oscar for writing Milk, to pen a miniseries based on the life of Charles Lindbergh. The project will be co-executive produced by Leonardo DiCaprio.
The source material for Lance Black’s script will be the Pulitzer Prize-winning biography on Lindbergh by A. Scott Berg. Kevin McCormack, Jennifer Killoran and Berg will also be onboard as executive producers.
Lindbergh’s story is that of the early celebrity-obsessed media in the 1920s. He was the first pilot to fly solo across the Atlantic, but the media soon turned the disappearance and murder of his infant son into the biggest story in history. Lance Black pointed out the link between the media and Lindbergh in a statement to TheWrap.
“He was an American daredevil, innovator, record breaker and icon, but he was far from perfect,” Lance Black said. “I'm eager to dig into the story of a man who stumbled in his fame, but showed a willingness to learn and attempt to rectify the unseen ramifications of what the world still considers his greatest successes … a man who urged the world to, 'Listen until the end.’”
The project will be a limited series TV event, but there’s no word on what network will air it. The Hollywood Reporter notes that Lance Black is also working in that medium for ABC on a project about the gay rights movement.
Lance Black has plenty of experience in the biopic realm, having won an Oscar for Milk, which centered on Harvey Milk. He also wrote the script for Clint Eastwood’s J. Edgar.
As for Paramount, this is the latest project for the studio since it got back into the TV business. The studio is also trying to bring the hit film Ghost to TV.
DiCaprio is also hoping to turn Berg’s Woodrow Wilson biography into a film.
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