Fresh off portraying a shunned screenwriter in last year’s awards contender Trumbo, Bryan Cranston will be remaining in the realm of real-life biopics for HBO’s upcoming political drama, All the Way.
Swapping Tinsel Town for Washington D.C.’s corridors of power, the network’s period piece places Cranston in the shoes of Lyndon B. Johnson, who had big shoes of his own to fill when, following John F. Kennedy’s assassination in 1963, the vice president went on to became commander in chief at a time when the country was teetering on the edge of crisis.
Behind the lens for All the Way is Jay Roach, and Cranston will be flanked by a star-studded cast that brings together Anthony Mackie in the role of Martin Luther King Jr., Melissa Leo, Stephen Root and Frank Langella.
Per HBO, here’s the show’s official logline:
‘All The Way’ offers a riveting behind-the scenes look at President Lyndon B. Johnson’s (Bryan Cranston) tumultuous first year in office after the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Staking his presidency on what would be an historic unprecedented Civil Rights Act, Johnson finds himself caught between the moral imperative of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (Anthony Mackie) and the expectations of the southern Democratic Party leaders who brought Johnson to power. As King battles to press Johnson while controlling more radical elements of the Civil Rights Movement, Johnson navigates the bill through Congress, winning a landslide victory against Barry Goldwater, but causing the South to defect from the Democratic Party.
It’s by no means the only feature in the works relating to JFK’s assassination, as next year, Natalie Portman will offer a new perspective on life inside the Oval Office circa 1963 for Pablo Larraín’s biopic, Jackie. And, looking further afield and into lighter fare, there’s also the imminent Elvis & Nixon, starring Michael Shannon and Kevin Spacey.
All the Way, on the other hand, will make its bow via HBO on Sunday, May 21.
