We interrupt your regularly scheduled programming to bring you this breaking news report: Chris Pine is set to play broadcast icon Walter Cronkite in an upcoming movie about the evening of John F. Kennedy’s assassination.
Producer Greg Silverman and his Stampede company announced Thursday the Wonder Woman and Star Trek franchise actor will lead The Current War director Alfonso Gomez-Rejon‘s Newsflash as the late journalist.
The film takes place on Nov. 22, 1963, when Cronkite “put everything on the line to get the story right as a president was killed, a frightened nation wept, and television came of age,” according to the official synopsis.
Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images; Pix Inc./The LIFE Picture Collection via Getty Images
Cronkite would go on to become one of the most trusted men in American news, with many often citing that day of reporting as a pivotal moment in his ascension to stardom.
Ben Jacoby wrote the film’s script, which appeared on the industry Black List before it found a home with Gomez-Rejon and Stampede. Silverman will produce alongside Gideon Yu, Lisa Zambri, Jonathan Lim, and Adam Kolbrenner.
“Ben’s script beautifully captured what it felt like to be in the newsroom on that fateful day,” Gomez-Rejon said in a press statement. “I see it as an origin story about a hero born at a time when seeking the truth and uniting a country was more important than winning and ratings, which has never felt more prescient.”
Production on Newsflash is expected to begin in February 2020. An exact release date has yet to be announced, as the film is currently being shopped to potential buyers at the American Film Market in Santa Monica, CA.
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