Sony Pictures is mulling a biopic of legendary news man Walter Cronkite, Variety has learned.
The “Spider-Man” studio has tapped screenwriter David Rothley to adapt esteemed academic Douglas Brinkley’s 2012 biography “Cronkite,” sources said. Brinkley is the Katherine Tsanoff Brown chair in humanities and professor of history at Rice University, and a contributing editor at Vanity Fair. Six of his books have been New York Times Notable Books of the Year.
“For anyone interested in the evolution and power of broadcast news, this book is a tremendous read, minutely documenting TV journalism’s most remarkable phenomenon: Walter Cronkite,” wrote PBS anchor Robert MacNeil in a review for the Washington Post. “Brinkley’s book brings the man intimately to light, in all his petty maneuvers and all his grandeur.”
The script is somewhat timely, as Cronkite’s name has been bandied about often in the recent, embattled transformation of CBS News under Paramount’s ownership and lightning rod Bari Weiss’ editorial leadership. Cronkite died in 2009 at age 92.
“Cronkite” is Rothley’s second project with Sony. In 2021, the studio purchased his original spec screenplay, “The Dryline,” with Joel Silver producing. Rothley ran the story department at Relativity Media before working as an in-house staff writer at Digital Domain. He is currently developing projects with Peter Guber’s Mandalay Pictures and Chris Hemsworth’s production company, Wild State, respectively.
Peter Kang and Allie Broome will shepherd the project for Sony. Douglas Brinkley is represented by Will Watkins at Creative Artist Agency. Rothley is represented by Gersh, Bellevue Productions and attorney Matt Jacobs of 3B Law.
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