After the huge ructions over the sexual abuse of children by priests in the Catholic Church, it’s almost surprising the film world has only nibbled at the edges of the scandal – probably because it’s such a hot button and difficult topic.
However now Tom McCarthy (Win Win) is planning to direct a film about the decades-long cover-up of paedophile priests in Massachusetts, and THR reports he’s living up a great cast including Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams and Stanley Tucci.
The film, called Spotlight, is based around the year-long investigation by The Boston Globe that uncovered the fact the Church knew it has abusive priests in its midst, but systematically hushed it up. The investigation by the paper’s ‘Spotlight Team’ led to the resignation of Cardinal Bernard Law, who had hidden years of serial abuse. It helped expose the way the Catholic Church dealt with abuse, with has since become a major scandal around the world.
Ruffalo and McAdams will play reporters, but it’s not clear who Tucci and Keaton will be. Josh Singer wrote the script, which landed on the Black List of the best unproduced screenplays.