Unsurprising Announcement: They're Making a Movie About Benazir Bhutto

Former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto was assassinated last Thursday. Six days later, a film biography of the beloved leader is already in the works, according to The Hollywood Reporter, citing media sources within Pakistan.

A Pakistan film company called Skies Unlimited made the announcement, saying Indian filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt will be involved, though probably as producer rather than director. The script is being written by Aqeel Ahmad Ruby, a Pakistani writer and poet. The director has not yet been announced.

Nor do they know who will play Bhutto. A Skies Unlimited spokesperson said, "We have not decided yet. It could be someone famous or a completely new face." I kind of like Defamer's suggestion that Kim Delaney play Bhutto and that current Pakistan president Musharref by played by Edward James Olmos, although the photo here makes me think more of Anjelica Huston. But now we're just being silly.

A Bhutto biopic was probably inevitable anyway, even before her tragic death. She was the first woman ever elected to lead a Muslim nation -- you'd think America would be ahead of the game there, wouldn't you? -- and in fact was elected twice. Both times she was eventually forced out of office by Pakistan's president (which is usually just a figurehead position but which occasionally exercises authority) on grounds of corruption; she went into self-imposed exile for a while; and she returned to Pakistan in late 2007 knowing there would be threats against her life.

Her life should make for quite a story, and it would appear that Skies Unlimited is making the film out of respect and admiration for her, not just as a cheap, strike-while-the-iron-is-hot maneuver. The spokesperson said, "The basic motive behind this announcement is just to dedicate this film to Benazir Bhutto. The film is going to be released internationally, and we don't want to create any controversy with this film."

A film about a polarizing political figure whose assassination led to riots, and you hope it doesn't turn out to be controversial? Good luck with that.