Russell Crowe has played all kinds of characters across his storied career, and now he’s just signed on to play one of the most controversial of them all: Fox News founder Roger Ailes. The Oscar-winning actor will Ailes in the upcoming Showtime limited series based off the bestselling book, “The Loudest Voice in the Room,” by Gabriel Sherman which explores Ailes’ rise and fall in the media world.
Showtime has ordered the eight-episode miniseries from executive producer Jason Blum through his Blumhouse Television label, which has just put out the show SHARP OBJECTS on HBO with star Amy Adams. The show’s pilot was written by Sherman and SPOTLIGHT’s Tom McCarthy, who won an Oscar for his movie about investigative journalism and will also executive produce the series.
The book itself stands as a massive exploration on the Fox News head, spanning from when his political career was sparked by meeting Richard Nixon, all the way to his split from Fox amid numerous sexual harassment claims. The show will examine how in this time he became the Republican Party’s “de facto leader”, using his political and media power to influence agendas and conversations.
Showtime CEO David Nevin put out a statement on Monday, comparing the show’s rise and fall tale to the same kind of story told in the often-regarded best movie of all time, CITIZEN KANE.
"In many ways, the collision between the media and politics has come to define the world we live in today. We've seen this phenomenon depicted on screen as far back as the story of Charles Foster Kane, and it finds contemporary embodiment in the rise and fall of Roger Ailes. With Russell Crowe in the lead role, this limited series promises to be a defining story for this era."