NBC is giving Hillary Clinton the miniseries treatment, tapping Diane Lane (Man of Steel) to play the former senator and first lady in a four-hour project in development at the network. Peacock chief Bob Greenblatt announced the project Saturday morning at the network’s portion of the TV Critics Association press tour as part of an ambitious miniseries slate the network hopes will give it a much-needed ratings boost. Oscar-nominated writer Courtney Hunt (Frozen River) is writing the project, which NBC said will examine “Clinton’s life as a wife, mother, politician and cabinet member from 1998 to the present. The script will begin with Clinton living in the White House as her husband is serving the second of his two terms as president.”
There’s no word yet on when the project will air, though Greenblatt indicated it run before a possible Clinton announcement about running for president. Given TV’s relatively speedy turnaround time with projects, it’s also possible the network is looking to get out in front of director James Ponsoldt’s Rodham, a feature biopic of Clinton which has yet to cast its lead. Also in the works at NBC: Remakes of Rosemary’s Baby and Stephen King’s The Tommyknockers and a Mark Burnett-produced look at the first English settlers to land in America dubbed Plymouth.
