Lionsgate has set an awards-season release of Dec. 20, 2019, for the untitled Fox News-Roger Ailes sexual harassment film starring Charlize Theron and Nicole Kidman.
Lionsgate bought the movie after Annapurna decided last October to back out of the project due to budgetary concerns. The cast also includes John Lithgow, Kate McKinnon, and Margot Robbie. The film is directed by Jay Roach (“Trumbo”) and written by Academy Award winner Charles Randolph (“The Big Short”).
The movie focuses on Ailes’ downfall as seen through the eyes of a group of female employees. Kidman will play Gretchen Carlson, the Fox News anchor who sued Ailes for harassment in 2016, and Theron will portray Megyn Kelly, whose decision to go public with her own story of abuse became a key turning point.
Lithgow will play Ailes and Malcolm McDowell is on board as News Corp chairman Rupert Murdoch. Robbie will portray a fictional Fox News producer named Kayla Pospisil. Allison Janney, Mark Duplass, Alice Eve, Brigette Lundy-Paine, Liv Hewson, and Alanna Ubach will also appear in the movie.
Ailes resigned in July 2016 from his post as chairman and CEO of Fox News and Fox Television Stations. He died in 2017.
The movie is being produced and co-financed by Bron Studios. It will have formidable competition in the Dec. 20 slot with Universal opening its movie version of “Cats” and Disney launching “Star Wars: Episode IX.”