This year marks the 50th anniversary of JFK’s assassination, so it’s little surprise there’s extra interest in Hollywood in films about his death. Parkland, focussing on the hospital the President was taken to after he was shot, will be out later this year. A movie based on Stephen King’s 11/22/63 is in the works, and David Mamet is working on the JFK assassination conspiracy thriller, Blackbird.
That last film has now found its headline star, as Variety reports that Cate Blanchett has signed up for the lead role. It’s described as being a Hitchcockian thriller, focussed on a secret explanation for the 1963 assassination of JFK.
Blanchett plays ‘Janet, who travels to Los Angeles for the funeral of her grandfather, a Hollywood visual effects artist who moonlighted for U.S. special ops agencies. Her grandfather’s well-kept secrets become a threat to her, forcing Janet to discover the truth about a man who dedicated his life to making illusion reality.’
The film will shoot in Sydney, to take advantage of the country’s tax breaks for films.