At the height of his screenwriting fame in the early 1990s, Basic Instinct screenwriter Joe Eszterhas famously sold multimillion-dollar movie pitches written on the backs of cocktail napkins. Armando Iannucci may not have the same exact same clout in Hollywood as Showgirls-era Eszterhas, but he may have just got a movie greenlit via Twitter.
On Wednesday morning, the Death of Stalin filmmaker tweeted out an intriguing satirical movie idea. It was an alternate universe take on the administration, where Trump is more or less Truman Show’d into ruling from a replica of White House. Iannucci likely meant the tweet as a joke, but it has definitely since become something else.
Er…looks like Hollywood’s interested. Now what do we do? https://t.co/oTB2KonqFO
— Armando Iannucci (@Aiannucci) September 6, 2018
The potential film wouldn’t be the first one successfully pitched off of Twitter. Last year, Netflix negotiated a deal for a Rihanna/Lupita Nyong’o heist movie (to be written by Issa Rae and directed by Ava Duverney) based on a viral tweet. If a studio does indeed decide to make Iannucci’s Trump film, The President Show’s Anthony Atamanuik has graciously agreed to star in it.
Shoot it with @TonyAtamanuik as Trump?
— Peter Grosz (@petergrosz) September 6, 2018
I’m game @Aiannucci !
— Anthony Atamanuik (@TonyAtamanuik) September 6, 2018
However, if what Iannucci’s Twitter prophesies have the power to affect real life, I humbly suggest he begin tweeting about a domino-style impeachment event that somehow ends with Maxine Waters becoming president.
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