Having enjoyed huge success with their adaptations of Killing Lincoln, Killing Kennedy and Killing Jesus, the National Geographic Channel is now set to adapt Bill O’Reilly’s book Killing Reagan, with Tim Matheson (The West Wing) signing on to portray President Ronald Reagan alongside Cynthia Nixon (Sex and the City) as First Lady Nancy Reagan.
“We wanted to get somebody in both roles who, No. 1 had a lot of experience, because these aren’t easy roles,” states O’Reilly in an interview with Deadline. “They aren’t caricature roles. Matheson and Nixon are accomplished, and they’ve played a lot of roles, but they’re also not strongly identified with any one role.”
Rod Lurie (The Contender, Commander in Chief) is directing the adaptation, which will tell of John Hinckley’s failed 1981 assassination attempt on the newly-elected Reagan and how it impacted his time in office.
The news comes just a week after it was announced that Will Ferrell was to portray the President in the political satire Reagan, only to pull out after the project attracted criticism from Reagan’s family.