Ben Stilleris set to co-write, produce and direct a feature adaptation ofRachel Maddow’s hit podcastBag Manfor Focus Features, Collider has learned.
TheBag Manpodcast chronicles the true story of one of the most brazen political bribery scandals in American history, which played out before the country while nobody was paying attention. The podcast asked if it was really possible for an American Vice President to carry out a criminal enterprise inside the White House and have nobody remember?
The MSNBC host’s Peabody Award-nominated podcast went back 45 years to dig into a story that got overshadowed in its day, one that features intrigue, corruption and envelopes of cash delivered to the White House. It’s a story that’s not well known, but it probably should be – especially today.
Stiller co-wrote the screenplay withAdam PerlmanandMike Yarvitz, the latter of whom executive produced the podcast and co-wrote the subsequent book with Maddow. Stiller and Yarvitz will also produce the film withLorne MichaelsandJosh McLaughlin, while Maddow will executive produce alongsideNicky Weinstock,Michael Price,Erin DavidandAndrew Singer.
TheZoolanderdirector actually professed his love for theBag Manpodcast back in November 2018,when he tweeted"I am loving @Maddow’s #BagMan podcast. Suchgreat storytelling and so crazily current. It’s so well done!" He alsoreferenced the bookin December 2020, which makes sense, since sources say this project has been in development at Focus for several months.
Stiller is always juggling several projects in various stages of development, andCollider previously reportedthat he was meeting with actors to potential star in his crime movieThe Seven Five, which is in the works at MGM. That film is based on a 2014 documentary from directorTiller Russellthat centered around a group of corrupt New York cops in the ’80s, and last I heard, Stiller was working on a new draft of the script withThe FavouritescribeTony McNamara.
Stiller has kept busy since winning a DGA Award for his work on Showtime’s limited seriesEscape at Dannemora.Not only did he appear alongsideAnne HathawayinDoug Liman’s pandemic-themed heist comedyLocked Down, but he also recently executive producedthe illegal coupon comedyQueenpinsstarringKristen BellandVince Vaughn, as well as an upcoming documentary about famed writerBudd Schulberg.
Additionally, Stiller is preparing to direct the Apple TV+ seriesSeverancestarringPatricia Arquette,Adam Scott,John TurturroandChristopher Walken., and he’s set to re-team with Arquette again on another Apple series titledHigh Desert. The duo co-starred inDavid O. Russell’s 1996 comedyFlirting with Disasterbefore working together onEscape at Dannemora. Stiller is represented by WME and 3 Arts Entertainment.
