Oscar-winning screenwriter Aaron Sorkin said he didn’t think studios “would be willing” to make his political romantic comedy-drama. The American President today because his messaging would dissuade “half” of the public from wanting to go see him.
Talk to rolling stone on the 30th anniversary of the film’s release, he said: “Look, [The American President] is a romantic comedy, but the two political issues at the heart of it were guns and the environment, right? The movie wouldn’t be made today – a studio wouldn’t agree to do it – because they would know that you just alienated half the potential audience, which wasn’t the case in 1995. The heroes I wrote into these two stories did things even if it cost them popularity, which is something you don’t see very often from professional politicians of either party.
The feature film, directed by Rob Reiner, follows popular Democratic President Andrew Shepherd (Michael Douglas) seeking re-election. But when the outgoing president, a widower, falls in love with an environmentalist lobbyist (Annette Bening), a Republican challenger (Richard Dreyfuss) sees an opportunity to launch an attack campaign. Meanwhile, as Shepherd’s popularity plummets, he seeks passage of a crucial gun control bill.
When asked if The west wing The creator sees parallels between Republican officials and Dreyfuss’ Bob Rumson, he said: “All I see in the Republican Party today is a scary, strange loyalty to someone who doesn’t deserve it.” »
He continued later in the interview: “During Covid, I watched all the Netflix documentaries about cults – NXIVM and Way Down Cult and Sarah Lawrence, everything. And what they all have in common is this strange, passionate devotion to an absolutely mundane person. That’s where I feel like we are now. I see the man-on-the-street interviews where people are calling Donald Trump genuine and honest, and he means what he says: [I think] you must be kidding me. What is new is this strange devotion, close to a cult, towards the very last person who deserves it. The electorate has changed, and I’m not good at explaining what changed it. Maybe the left has made people crazy.”
Sorkin has previously explained how his projects centered around civic duty would translate to a modern audience in our current political landscape. Last year he expressed similar sentiments, saying about the right-wing party represented in The west wing: “Right now, it would be implausible that the opposition party, the Republican Party, would be reasonable. People would watch that and it wouldn’t be familiar to them as the country that they live in. On the show, while the Republicans were the opposition, they were reasonable.”
The filmmaker/writer is currently working on the planned 2010s sequel. The social networkfor which he wrote the screenplay. Title The social reportthe drama is scheduled to release on October 9, 2026.
