by CHRIS VOGNAR / Movies / Dallas Morning News
Tom Hanks is always on the lookout for new projects to make through his production company, Playtone. Now Dallas is on the list of his possible destinations.
Vincent Bugliosi, the author of Reclaiming History: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy, a 1,612-page tome that debunks conspiracy theories to establish that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in killing President John F. Kennedy, says he optioned the book to Playtone after its 2007 publication.
Bugliosi says it’s his understanding that the production team, which also includes actor Bill Paxton, hopes to film a 10-part miniseries and have it air on HBO near the 50th anniversary of Kennedy’s assassination, in November 2013.
Early last year, Hanks made his first public comment on the project to Time magazine. “We’re going to do the American public a service,” he said. “A lot of conspiracy types are going to be upset. If we do it right, it’ll be perhaps one of the most controversial things that has ever been on TV.”
Hanks reiterated his interest during a recent visit to Dallas to promote his new movie, Larry Crowne. But he says it’s not a done deal.
“Boy, do we want to do it,” he said. “But there’s really only one way to it, and that’s to have a substantial amount of time so you can go in much, much deeper than ever before and you’re not just repeating what have become the mythical highlights of those four days. That gets to be very expensive, and that gets to be a problem on the corporate level. I can’t say we’re definitely doing it.”
Paxton, who was born and grew up in Fort Worth and starred in the Playtone-produced HBO series Big Love, attributes his interest in the project to having accompanied his father to the appearance Kennedy made in downtown Fort Worth, hours before he was killed on Elm Street in Dallas.
Source: Dallas Morning News
Tom Hanks is always on the lookout for new projects to make through his production company, Playtone. Now Dallas is on the list of his possible destinations.
Vincent Bugliosi, the author of Reclaiming History: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy, a 1,612-page tome that debunks conspiracy theories to establish that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in killing President John F. Kennedy, says he optioned the book to Playtone after its 2007 publication.
Bugliosi says it’s his understanding that the production team, which also includes actor Bill Paxton, hopes to film a 10-part miniseries and have it air on HBO near the 50th anniversary of Kennedy’s assassination, in November 2013.
Early last year, Hanks made his first public comment on the project to Time magazine. “We’re going to do the American public a service,” he said. “A lot of conspiracy types are going to be upset. If we do it right, it’ll be perhaps one of the most controversial things that has ever been on TV.”
Hanks reiterated his interest during a recent visit to Dallas to promote his new movie, Larry Crowne. But he says it’s not a done deal.
“Boy, do we want to do it,” he said. “But there’s really only one way to it, and that’s to have a substantial amount of time so you can go in much, much deeper than ever before and you’re not just repeating what have become the mythical highlights of those four days. That gets to be very expensive, and that gets to be a problem on the corporate level. I can’t say we’re definitely doing it.”
Paxton, who was born and grew up in Fort Worth and starred in the Playtone-produced HBO series Big Love, attributes his interest in the project to having accompanied his father to the appearance Kennedy made in downtown Fort Worth, hours before he was killed on Elm Street in Dallas.
Source: Dallas Morning News
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9 comments:
I sure hope Tom Hanks follows through with this project. I've been hearing about it for four years - ever since Reclaiming History was published. I can't think of a better book to base it on than the one which shattered conspiracy theories to pieces.
If it's based on Bugliosi's "Rewriting History" it will be a polished-up Warren Report and therefore an insult to intelligence.
Hanks has been quoted that the biggest load of crap the American public has ever been sold is the idea that Oswald was innocent of the assassination. Being in complete agreement with him, I hope he gets it made, and does it right.
Reclaiming History is a ghostwritten abomination written (in part) by an intellectually dishonest and contemptuous man. The real reason a miniseries cannot be made from it is that once serious people get involved and shine a light on Bugliosi, they quickly see how embarrassing it would be to be associated with such a piece of junk. Whether or not Oswald was a shooter does not preclude conspiracy, and the gaps that remain in the case point irresistably toward one. That remains true regardless of how many hucksters decide to weigh in on it, from either perspective.
No question that there was a JFK assassination cover-up - of something. The House Assassinations Committee decided in the late 70s that the Warren Commission was wrong and there was "probably" a conspiracy. Interestinly, the committee found that Oswald had contacts with the right-wing anti-Castroites Dave Ferry and Guy Bannister. Was Oswald CIA? If Hanks learns the truth of what actually happened he'll probably abandon this project.
Obviously, there are questions of whether there was or was not a coverup in the JFK assassination case - otherwise, why would we be still talking about it? The 1979 HSCA conclusion of a "probable conspiracy" in the JFK case was based on acoustics evidence that was proven invalid by the National Academy of Sciences in 1982. The alleged contacts (nothing was ever proven to substantiate the allegations) between Oswald and Ferrie and Bannister was known by the Warren Commission in 1964. The truth is right in front of our noses - as it has always been - regardless of the outcome of the Hanks project.
Does Tom Hanks believe in a magic bullet too? What does he have to gain from exposing ignorance? Who put Tom Hanks in their bottomless pocket? Maybe once he digs deeper, he will notice too many "coincidences" and inconsistencies, such as the identities of the members of the Warren Commission (to name one of many) to make the movie the way it is described as of now.
glad there are a few reasonable people commenting here who support Hanks making a series that this book deserves. if a conspiracy minded individual actually looks at the evidence and thinks rationally they can really come to no other conclusion than that Oswald likely acted alone. it is the conspiracy supporters that misrepresent evidence and attack anyone who disagrees with them, not the other way around
The evidence is overwhelming that there was a conspiracy to murder JFK and it involved an element of the CIA. As this series was never made maybe Hanks did some real research and saw what a fraud Bugliosi is (and Posner too).
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