Lee Atwater. Karl Rove. The names should make any liberal Democrat’s blood boil. Atwater in particular is loathsome to me and has been for a long time. If you saw a recent episode of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, you’ll recognize him as the guy who broke down the Republican playbook on coded racist language. Rove is, of course, the mastermind behind some of the Bush era’s worst policies and a win-at-all-costs strategist.
Deadline reports James Schamus will direct College Republicans, a coming-of-age story about the real-life political heavyweights. Playing Atwater is Schamus’ Indignation star, Logan Lerman, with Asa Butterfield as Rove. A fictional character named Kate King will be played by Kristine Froseth. She had a role in the Schamus-produced workplace abuse drama, The Assistant.
Considering Schamus’ powerhouse career as former head of Focus Features, it’s no surprise he’s calling in a few favors on this one.
The film is set in 1973 while Rove and Atwater were members of the College Republicans, with Rove pulling every dirty trick he could find to become its National Chairman, and Atwater right there at his side.
Here’s how the film is described: The film is set in the Summer of 1973, as America witnesses the dirtiest election in its history – for the chairmanship of the national College Republicans club. Young Karl Rove embarks with his not-to-be-trusted campaign manager Lee Atwater on a backroom vote-getting – and vote-stealing – road trip through the South. Among the future Republican titans they form uneasy alliances with — and betray whenever convenient — include Paul Manafort, Roger Stone, and Jeff Sessions. But when Atwater meets his duplicitous match in a beautiful young Republican operative, their dreams of victory bring them all too close to humiliating, career-ending defeat.
The original plan had been to keep the characters anonymous, but given the current impact these young manipulators still have on our broken government, Schamus changed his mind.
“They were nobodies, but then you realize, that’s Paul Manafort? Roger Stone? Put those names back in,” the director said.