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Clint Eastwood May Be Directing That J. Edgar Hoover Biopic

by Alex Billington
March 10, 2010

Remember that J. Edgar Hoover biopic that we wrote about last week? Well, Entertainment Weekly and THR have both confirmed that legendary actor and filmmaker Clint Eastwood is interested in directing the project. Brian Grazer and Imagine Entertainment are developing the film, however Eastwood will start working with Oscar winning screenwriter Dustin Lance Black (Milk) on the script, since he typically gets that intimately involved in his projects. The movie will follow Hoover's career, from the founding of the FBI in 1935 to his long tenure as director of the crime-fighting organization that lasted until 1972 when he died.

Hoover, as it will be called, isn't setup at a studio just yet (even though Brian Grazer normally works with Universal). Both sources say that it will probably end up at Warner Bros, which is where Eastwood has a deal and has been releasing his latest films like Gran Torino and Invictus. I'm absolutely amazed that this guy, at 79 years old, can still direct as many films as he does. He recently finished shooting Hereafter with Matt Damon, which will be out this December. And if I have a feeling that if he does direct Hoover, he'll be shooting sometime by the end of the year as well. I'll be very curious to see who he casts as J. Edgar Hoover.

So combine this news with that other bit about Hoover supposedly being a "closeted homosexual and cross-dresser" in addition to founding the FBI and tell me if this is something you want to see. I'm curious, and it will probably be Oscar bait, but I'm not totally sold yet. This is one of those few projects where I'm going to have to wait until we see a trailer and learn more about what exactly we'll be seeing in this before I'll be completely sold. But there is definitely some high caliber talent working on it, to say the least. Thoughts?

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