Robert De Niro May Play Bernie Madoff For HBO Film
Posted on Sunday, May 15th, 2011 by Russ Fischer
HBO seems to be in love with real-life stories this year. Among other projects, the channel has Too Big To Fail, a film about the 2008 financial crisis, hitting soon, and is now shooting Game Change, which features Julianne Moore as Sarah Palin in a story about the 2008 presidential election. And HBO has optioned the book The Wizard of Lies: Bernie Madoff and the Death of Trust, which now has Robert De Niro as a likely lead for the film.
Deadline and THR both have info on the project, but at this point there isnt much: Robert De Niro and producing partner Jane Rosenthal are producing the film, and the expectation is that De Niro will play Bernie Madoff, who for decades oversaw investment schemes that bilked billions out of clients. Theres certainly enough resemblance between the two men to make the casting seem like a no-brainer. And if Robert De Niro can escape the ennui that has left some of his recent performances feeling like paint by numbers exercises, he would actually be quite an interesting choice to bring Bernie Madoff to life. Ill be interested to see who plays his sons, too, as they were responsible for bringing his financial malfeasance to light.
