The JFK assassination has been depicted on screen many times, but only one can say it’ll have Chris Pine as legendary newsman, Walter Cronkite. Deadline reports Pine is set to play the CBS anchor in Newsflash, which unfolds on November 22nd 1963, the terrible Texas day when JFK was killed.
Pine takes over the role previously occupied by Seth Rogen, so this is a wild change of direction for the film which is undergoing some drastic changes. David Gordon Green was on board to direct but with him directing back-to-back Halloween movies, that obviously wasn’t going to happen. Ben Jacoby’s script is still in play but no director is currently attached. The addition of Pine could help in that search, though.
In 1963 Cronkite was the most trusted name in news, and people tuned in to him on that tragic day, even though it was NBC that broke the news first. Jacoby’s script will center on four powerful forces in TV news broadcasting: Cronkite, his producer Don Hewitt who is to be played by Mark Ruffalo, their boss Jim Aubrey, and a young Dan Rather. Bryan Cranston had been sought for the role of Aubrey but nothing appears to have come of it.
TV news broadcasting was at a crossroads at this moment in time, as networks were demanding their journalism divisions to show profit. Aubrey was making the push for more sensationalist stories as a result, which Cronkite and Hewitt fought against. They managed to take hold of the reins and filter out the chaos and rumors to bring the sad truth to millions of heartbroken Americans.
Pine has a trustworthy face and strong voice, I can see him playing a newsanchor easily. I don’t quite see him as Cronkite, but then Rogen didn’t make much sense, either.
