Pajiba is reporting that Dustin Lance Black has been hired to pen the upcoming biopic “Hoover,” about the life of (you guessed it) J. Edgar Hoover.
The film, currently set up at Universal and being produced under Ron Howard’s Imagine Entertainment banner, will cover Hoover’s fascinating and controversial career. He was the first director of the FBI, pursued John Dillinger (he was portrayed by Billy Crudup in Michael Mann’s “Public Enemies”) and later, opened thousands of secret files on American citizens whom he considered “subversives” or “radicals.” Hoover also founded the notorious COINTELPRO program, perhaps his most controversial legacy. The special ops program was used to disrupt a variety of organizations ranging from the Ku Klux Klan and American Nazi Party to civil rights groups. Yet, despite Hoover’s seemingly reckless methods, he remained in his position for years, as he was considered more of a danger as a political enemy, and was rumored to have kept damaging or embarrassing files on political leaders.
Of course, Hoover is also just as well known for possibly being gay and a cross-dresser. While he certainly never came out of the closet, it’s believed that associate director Clyde Tolson was his lover. After Hoover’s death, Tolson inherited his estate and moved into his home, only fueling such rumors.
Given Hoover’s fascinating story, and the undercurrent of repressed sexuality that undoubtedly runs through any narrative of the former FBI director’s life, we think Black is the perfect person for the job. Where Hoover’s rumored homosexuality has often been played for cheap laughs, we think that Black who wrote the solid “Milk,” and is open and out himself, is the right person to get into the psyche of a political figure of such extraordinary power, who may have been forced to keep his sexual identity secret and the repercussions both internally and externally it may have caused.
This is a project we’ll be keeping an eye on, but it’s one that definitely has us excited.