Chris Columbus Embarks on an RFK Film

Published by Jeff Leins on: August 11th, 2008

Chris Columbus will direct a film based on the book “The Last Campaign: Robert F. Kennedy and 82 Days That Inspired America,” about RFK’s 1968 presidential run. This is his first deal since signing a first-look alliance with India-based Reliance Big Entertainment.

The adaptation will focus on the time from Robert Kennedy’s formal candidacy announcement on March 16, 1968 to his assassination on June 5, 1968 at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. RFK’s short presidential run has been closely compared to this year’s historic campaign by Barack Obama with similar focuses on an unpopular war, a flailing economy, and a racial divide.

Columbus plans to write the script himself, but may bring another writer on if necessary. The last time he wrote his own script, we got the gem Christmas with the Kranks.

But I guess I can’t knock him too much, the man directed the first two Harry Potter movies after writing/directing an impressive slew of 80s and 90s favorites like Gremlins, Home Alone 1 & 2, and Mrs. Doubtfire.

Columbus has a lot going against him though. Emilio Estevez’s 2006 movie Bobby, which focused on the daily events leading up to RFK’s death, bombed at the box office despite being loaded with a massive cast, accurate stock footage, and the actual location before it was demolished.

But most people would look at a project like this and say, “Why?” Chris Columbus and I look at this idea and say, “Why not?”