Much like the dueling “Snow White” projects, yet with considerably less heat is three in-the-works dueling biopics of the auto industry’s fallen angel, John DeLorean — the car magnate and creator of the DeLorean vehicle perhaps best remembered for its appearance in “Back to the Future” as the time travel car.
One is being led by filmmaker James Toback (“Tyson“), who last we heard was preparing to pen a screenplay about DeLorean with filmmakers Brett Ratner and Robert Evans as producers, another by “Youth In Revolt” producer David Permut, and a third from a relatively fresh team of about half a dozen producers, including DeLorean’s son.
Lately, a rumor has been making the rounds that George Clooney has been pegged to play DeLorean. Of course the obvious tip-off at veracity, or lack thereof was the lack of details; most pieces fail to mention exactly which DeLorean biopic it is (though to be fair Clooney was rumored to be part of Permut’s version way back when, but don’t expect the rumors to note that).
No matter, it’s all bogus. Reps for Clooney deny the report stating that there’s zero truth to the report. “He has no involvement. The story is not true. He knows nothing about this,” his PR agent said. Again, maybe a wishlist leaked early? Who knows, more importantly, let’s hope they cast someone as exciting and delightful as the Flux Capacitor.
What’s so special about the auto king’s story? Well, the car-maker was arrested in 1982 on charges of drug trafficking in an apparent attempt to raise funds for his struggling company. Later that year he declared bankruptcy, but he did successfully defend himself against the drug charges in court and argued his alleged involvement was entrapment by the FBI. Ratner told the NYTimes last year the biopic would be “a very timely parable of the extraordinary arrogance of a particular brand of American capitalism.”