‘The Front Runner’ Will Be The First Movie To Open On Election Day
The Front Runneris taking its name to heart. TheJason Reitmanbiopic starringHugh Jackmanas Democratic presidential candidate Gary Hart will open in theaters this November 6, makingThe Front Runnerthe first film to open on a U.S. Election Day.
Originally slated to hit theaters on Wednesday, November 7, Columbia Pictures moved upThe Front Runnerrelease date toNovember 6, 2018to capitalize on the political fervor around an actual election day. It’s fitting considering the film follows the disastrous 1988 presidential campaign of U.S. Senator Gary Hart, whose bright career was derailed by a scandalous love affair.
Based on Matt Bai’s 2014 bookAll the Truth Is Out: The Week Politics Went Tabloid,The Front Runnerfollows Colorado Senator Gary Hart as he embarks on his second bid for presidency in 1988. A bright and promising senator, Hart was considered the frontrunner for the primary, ahead of eventual candidate Mike Dukakis. But scandal struck his campaign when the media began reporting on an extramarital affair — a twist made all the more deliciously ironic when Hart famously challenged the media to, “Follow me around. I don’t care. I’m serious. If anybody wants to put a tail on me, go ahead. They’ll be very bored.” The tabloids accepted the challenge, and soon, photos of Hart with a woman named Donna Rice aboard a yacht brought an end to his candidacy.
It’s the kind of political scandal that still remains juicy today — just look at the success of the stranger-than-fiction 2016 documentaryWeiner, which chronicled in real-time Anthony Weiner’s sex scandal that killed his 2013 attempt at a political comeback. You’d think we’d have enough of sex scandals around the White House in real life, but the fictionalized one has proven too good to pass at the film festival circuit as well: following itsTelluridedebut,The Front Runnerhas pushed Hugh Jackman to the front of the Oscar race.
Directed byJason Reitmanwith a script by Reitman, Matt Bai, andJay Carson,The Front Runneralso starsVera Farmiga, J. K. Simmons,andAlfred Molina.
