Deadline is reporting that Rob Lowe has signed on to star in political drama, Knife Fight, which is to be directed by two-time Academy Award winner Bill Guttentag (You Don’t Have To Die, Twin Towers).
This comes just as Lowe’s autobiography, Stories I Only Tell My Friends, debuts this weekend at #3 on The New York Times Best Seller List for Non-fiction.
Lowe is certainly a recognisable face among many, most commonly known for his roles as Sam Seaborn in The West Wing and Robert McCallister in Brothers & Sisters. Way back when, for those ’80s fans amongst you (of which I am naturally one), Lowe was of course one of the Brat Pack, starring in the 1985 seminal film, St. Elmo’s Fire.
Given his brilliant performances in The West Wing and Brothers & Sisters, the political nature of Knife Fight sounds like a perfect fit for him. The film will see him take the lead as a political crisis specialist,
“who plays hard and tough in dealing with various October campaign surprises.”
In America, the November elections have often in the past seen major news stories come out in late October that sway public opinion from or towards one of the two main presidential candidates. It happened in ’72, when Kissinger, National Security Advisor to President Nixon, that “peace is at hand” with the Vietnam War. It happened during the Iran hostage crises in the 1980 election, when it was announced that Carter wouldn’t be able to get the hostages released prior to the election. And it happened in 2000, when a report was released days before the Bush vs. Gore election that said Bush had been arrested for driving under the influence in Maine back in 1976, though Bush of course went on (albeit contested by some) to win.
For anyone who’s seen Lowe in The West Wing or Brothers & Sisters, you’ll know that this is exactly the kind of role he will excel in. The film is looking to shoot in June with an eye to release it in October next year, in time for the 2012 Presidential Elections in the States.
