While the names Lee Atwater and Karl Rove may send shivers down the spines of progressives around the world, those two men are at the center of a new film from director James Schamus titled “College Republicans.” And this isn’t going to be your typical political drama.
According to Deadline, Schamus has signed on to direct “College Republicans,” which will star Logan Lerman and Asa Butterfield as versions of real-life conservative figures Lee Atwater and Karl Rove. “College Republicans” is described as “a fact-inspired ‘Dirty Rotten Scoundrels’-style coming of age story” about the two men and a fictional character named Kate King played by Kristine Froseth.
Originally, the film was going to take a more anonymous approach to the story, leaving out the names of some of the key players, as they probably wouldn’t have been relevant when the script was being researched. But filmmaker Schamus has now realized that is not the way to go because the story he aims to tell is incredibly timely given the roles the men would later inhabit in the political discourse.
“They were nobodies, but then you realize, that’s Paul Manafort? Roger Stone? Put those names back in,” he said about the original script that left the real names out.
Schamus made his directorial debut only several years ago with the feature, “Indignation.” However, he has an extensive history in the film industry as a writer (“The Ice Storm”) and a veteran producer (“Brokeback Mountain”). But as he began in 2016, he has now transitioned into the world of directing, which will continue with “College Republicans.”
There’s no release date set for the new feature, but production is aiming to begin sometime in spring or summer of next year.