A film about George Santos is in the works at HBO Films, Variety has confirmed.
HBO Films has optioned the rights to Mark Chiusano’s book “The Fabulist: The Lying, Hustling, Grifting, Stealing, and Very American Legend of George Santos,” which was published on 28 November. The film comes from Frank Rich, who executive produced HBO’s Veep and Succession. Mike Makowsky (“Bad Education”) will write the screenplay for the George Santos film, which he will also executive produce with Rich. Chiusano will serve as a consulting producer.
The film is described as a “forensic and darkly comic look” at the unprecedented congressional race in Long Island, NY that led to Santos’ election to Congress.
According to the official logline, the film tells “the story of a seemingly insignificant local race that turned into a battle for the soul of Long Island and unexpectedly paved the way for the world’s most famous (and now disgraced) congressman. The Gatsby-esque journey of a man from nowhere who gamed the system, waged war on truth and swindled one of the wealthiest districts in the country to achieve his American dream.
The announcement of the film comes after Santos was expelled from Congress on Friday for ethics violations, becoming the sixth member of the US House of Representatives in history to be expelled and the first in more than two decades. The House voted 311-114 to expel the New York GOP congressman, with 105 Republicans voting in favour of the expulsion resolution.
