TORONTO — Errol Morris is turning his lens toward former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, and three companies are banding together to bring the project to the big screen.
History Films, Radius-TWC and Participant Media will team on The Unknown Known: The Life and Times of Donald Rumsfeld.
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Drawing from extensive hours of filmed interviews and never-before-seen material from Rumsfeld’s private archive, Morris will examine the powerful and polarizing figure’s role in American history from the Watergate era to the war on terror.
The participants are hoping for a strong documentary contender for next awards season given Morris’ Oscar-winning credentials. His films include The Fog of War — which won the Academy Award for best documentary feature in 2004 — A Brief History of Time and The Thin Blue Line.
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Unknown Known will be released theatrically next year in North America by Radium-TWC, The Weinstein Co.’s multiplatform label.
Netflix also has boarded the project, and HanWay Films will be handling international sales.
Moxie Pictures’ Robert Fernandez and Amanda Branson Gill are producing.
All deals on behalf of the film were negotiated by Josh Braun for Submarine — who will also be an executive producer on the film — Participant’s Jeff Ivers and attorneys Sue Bodine and Peter Grossman. History’s Nancy Dubuc, Dirk Hoogstra, Julian P. Hobbs and Molly Thompson also are executive producing with Participant’s Jeff Skoll and Diane Weyermann.
