Cinematical

Last summer, representatives from Scott Free Productions went to Iceland to scout possible locals for a still-untitled film about the 1986 Reykjavik Summit between Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev. While many months have passed, The Hollywood Reporter has posted that Ridley Scott is still looking to make the feature film, which could even get released in early 2009. He says this even though the project is still in the script stage, which seems a bit optimistic, but apparently, it will only need a short shoot.

The 1986 summit brought together Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev to discuss arms control, but fell apart with no agreement (one did, however, come the next year, in 1987). Scott says: "These are fascinating historical characters, larger-than-life figures, but I want to show who they were and why they did what they did. Their actions helped shape history, paving the way for the end of the Cold War."

Now considering that, and how recognizable their images are, one would think that they'd be on the hunt for talented actors who can not only embody these men, but look like them. Surprisingly, Scott says that "resemblance is secondary. It's less about visible appearance, more about the acting." Sure, the talent is important, but I'm not sure how easy it would be to buy this film if we can't buy the actors in their roles. We're not talking about names that are much bigger than their images, but men from our recent past who are highly recognizable. A group of "entertainment and political veterans" have been brought together for the project, so we should hear more soon.