Like “All the President’s Men” before it, this political scandal picture will go all the way to the White House
By Jeffrey Jolson

Plame and Wilson get revenge Hollywood style

In another example of Hollywood’s renewed passion for politics, the still-unfolding Washington scandal case of outed CIA agent Valerie Plame will be made into a major motion picture from Warner Bros. In an ongoing lawsuit against Vice President Dick Cheney, President Bush’s political hatchet man Karl Rove and Cheney’s chief of staff I. Lewis Scooter Libby, Plame claims reporter Robert Novak was leaked information that she was an undercover CIA agent as a political dirty trick against her husband, former ambassador to Iraq Joseph Wilson. He had spoke out in the New York Times and elsewhere that Bush was using discredited evidence to falsely convince the Congress and the public that Iraq had Weapons of Mass Destruction, one of the key premises to his invasion of the country.
After Novak effectively blew her cover in what might have been deadly to her or her contacts, Wilson vowed he “would not rest until Karl Rove was led from the White House in handcuffs.” The couple may have to settle on being big screen heroes as deliberations in the Libby perjury and obstruction trial are into their fifth day, indicating it’s hard to get a conviction even with what observers are calling the chosen scapegoat.
“Variety” reports today that WB secured the life rights of Wilson and Plame, interesting as the CIA appears to already have life rights to Plame. The trade paper says the studio will use Plame’s memoir, “Fair Game,” if the CIA permits her to publish it. Plame made a reported publishing deal in the $2.5 million range last year, and Simon & Schuster is expected to publish late this year. While it would be ironic for Plame’s story to be illegally leaked by the White House, only to have another government branch deny her the right to tell it herself, the CIA has the latitude to silence Plame.The film is co-production between Oscar winner Akiva Goldsman (“A Beautiful Mind,” The DaVicni Code”) and Jerry Zucker (the “Aiplane” and “Naked Gun” franchises) and Janet Zucker.

In other examples of showbiz creeping into politics yesterday, Sen. John McCain chose to pull an Arnold Schwarzenegger and announce his candidacy on a late night talk show, telling David Letterman he would indeed be a Republican candidate for the presidency. He is behind in the polls to Rudy Giuliani, who leads with 29 percent to his 20 percent. In other examples of showbiz creeping into politics yesterday, Sen. John McCain chose to pull an Arnold Schwarzenegger and announce his candidacy on a late night talk show, telling David Letterman he would indeed be a Republican candidate for the presidency. He is behind in the polls to Rudy Giuliani, who leads with 29 percent to his 20 percent. During the coming next week, John Edwards, Hillary Clinton and Giuliani will all come to Southern California with an eye on Hollywood’s big donors and the electoral votes in California’s primaries.In other examples of showbiz creeping into politics yesterday, Sen. John McCain chose to pull an Arnold Schwarzenegger and announce his candidacy on a late night talk show, telling David Letterman he would indeed be a Republican candidate for the presidency. He is behind in the polls to Rudy Giuliani, who leads with 29 percent to his 20 percent. During the coming next week, John Edwards, Hillary Clinton and Giuliani will all come to Southern California with an eye on Hollywood’s big donors and the electoral votes in California’s primaries.Finally, all the candidates yesterday had their new video clip centers unveiled on YouTube’s first voter initiative. Viewers can see all the presidential hopeful’s clips in one place and leave video and written comments.

In other examples of showbiz creeping into politics yesterday, Sen. John McCain chose to pull an Arnold Schwarzenegger and announce his candidacy on a late night talk show, telling David Letterman he would indeed be a Republican candidate for the presidency. He is behind in the polls to Rudy Giuliani, who leads with 29 percent to his 20 percent. During the coming next week, John Edwards, Hillary Clinton and Giuliani will all come to Southern California with an eye on Hollywood’s big donors and the electoral votes in California’s primaries.Finally, all the candidates yesterday had their new video clip centers unveiled on YouTube’s first voter initiative. Viewers can see all the presidential hopeful’s clips in one place and leave video and written comments.