Kevin Spacey has signed on to play disgraced US political lobbyist Jack Abramoff in Casino Jack, based on the true story of a man who went from hanging at the White House to chilling in the Big House.
For those of us on this side of the Atlantic who have (at most) the vaguest idea who Abramoff is, he was a hugely successful Washington lobbyist who was convicted in 2006 on corruption, briberty and fraud in his dealing with several Indian casino groups, who he was said to have defrauded of tens of millions of dollars. He was also connected to the Bush administration, with some of its officials caught up in his trial.
The film, originally called Bagman, is set to be directed by George Hickenlooper, who previously directed Factory Girl and Dogtown. It's based on a screenplay by Norman Snider (Dead Ringers). The film shoots in Toronto this month; while we're waiting for the results, you can see Kevin Spacey in Shrink, The Men Who Stare At Goats with George Clooney and father-daughter comedy Father of Invention.