LBJ: First Look at Woody Harrelson as President Lyndon B. Johnson

First look at Woody Harrelson as President Lyndon B. Johnson in LBJ

Entertainment Weekly has your first look at Woody Harrelson in director Rob Reiner’s LBJ, a political drama following Lyndon Baines Johnson as he ascends to become the 36th President of the United States. This comes on the heels of the reveal of Bryan Cranston portraying LBJ earlier this month in Jay Roach’s HBO film All the Way.

The script for LBJ by Joey Hartstone centers around the political upheaval that Vice President Johnson faced when he was thrust into the presidency at the hands of an assassin’s bullet in November 1963. With political battles on both sides of the aisle, Johnson struggles to heal a nation and secure his presidency by passing Kennedy’s historic Civil Rights Act.

The film also stars Richard Jenkins as Sen. Richard Russell, Bill Pullman as Sen. Ralph Yarborough, Jeffrey Donovan as President Kennedy, Kim Allen as Jacqueline Kennedy, and Jennifer Jason Leigh as Lady Bird Johnson.

Directed by Reiner (A Few Good Men, The American President), filming is scheduled to take place in New Orleans and Baton Rouge, La., Dallas, Texas and Washington, D.C., with production companies Acacia Entertainment, Savvy Media Holdings, Castle Rock Entertainment, and Star Thrower Entertainment behind it. Matthew George is producing LBJ alongside Rob Reiner, Liz Glotzer, Michael R. Williams and Tim and Trevor White.

In other news, according to The Hollywood Reporter, Woody Harrelson has just joined Hailee Steinfeld and Kyra Sedgwick in the currently untitled STX Entertainment coming-of-age film formally titled “Besties.” The comedy focuses on inseparable high school besties Nadine (Steinfeld) and Krista whose friendship hits a snag when Nadine discovers her older brother and Krista have been secretly dating behind her back. Harrelson plays a teacher at their school, while Sedgwick (“The Closer”) will play Nadine’s mother.

The directorial debut of screenwriter Kelly Fremon (Post Grad) is being produced by Academy Award-winner James L. Brooks (Terms of Endearment, As Good as it Gets), who has an excellent track record of mentoring directors like Cameron Crowe (Say Anything…) and Wes Anderson (Bottle Rocket) on their first features. Brooks’ Gracie Films is producing alongside Richard Sakai and Julie Ansell.

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