I’m 34 years old and I had trouble getting out of bed this morning. Which is really pathetic when you realize that a man twice my age, Ridley Scott, has the energy to add yet another project to his slate, which seems to be constantly growing.
Scott has told the Washington Post that he wants to make a movie about The Reykjavik Summit, a historic arms talk between Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev, held in the Höfði house in the capital of Iceland. That house is famous because its name is impossible to type out or probably pronounce. What the hell is that second to last letter?
Scott is undeterred by the fact that political films are not doing well at the moment*, saying that the Summit "not only captures an important moment in modern history that led to the eventual end of the Cold War, it also provides a window to view two of the most influential leaders of the 20th century."
One of the producers on the film, Ken Adelman, was Reagan’s arms control advisor, and tells the Washington Post that the meeting was, and I paraphrase, completely fucking kick ass.
Adelman says that the Summit included "scenes of Reagan and Gorby going mano a mano, negotiating teams pulling all-nighters in the haunted Höfði House (the CIA and KGB sharing basement space), U.S. and Soviet officers clutching their nuclear footballs on the sidelines. As the leaders drew closer to an agreement, Adelman persuaded the Gipper to stay for one more round of talks. "Nancy expects me home for dinner tonight," protested Reagan. "Well, Mr. President, she knows where you are," responded Adelman." You can just see the trailer for this thrill-a-minute spectacular.
Scott hopes to get a script done this year, which means he either thinks the strike is reaching an end or he’s making this at United Artists, who have reached a deal with the WGA. Or he’s making it for a studio that he knows is about to make a similar deal. Interesting…
*Although they’re all political films about sand countries. This is a
political film about an ice country. Americans want more Hoth, less
Tatooine.