Though the phrase “Me Too” dates back as early as 2006 it gained substantial traction in recent years following a number of high-profile sexual assault scandals. Possibly the most prominent of them revolved around disgraced film executive Harvey Weinstein who was sentenced to twenty-three years in prison early last year after being found guilty of sexual assault in New York City. His story became notorious after it first broke in 2017 when The New Yorker and The New York Times both published reports detailing allegations from over a dozen women all painting the same picture of a monstrous Weinstein preying on the weak and innocent. The story rocked Hollywood from the other side of the country, opening the doors for countless women to tell their stories and expose the evils that hide behind the curtains of show business. Now Hollywood is working on a project that explores the Weinstein scandal centering around the two reporters who courageously published the initial reports of the movie exec’s misdeeds, both of whom have just been officially casted.
Following the Weinstein scandal, the floodgates opened for the countless sexual assault victims in the entertainment industry who have remained silent to tell their stories. It was obvious from the beginning that the #MeToo movement it inspired was going to be pivotal for sexual assault survivors throughout the entire country, putting some of the most successful men in America in the hot seat for the first time in their lives. The two reporters who published the initial reports of Weinstein’s wrongdoings put plenty on the line putting out their stories, but they did so for the right reasons and are now receiving their due credit for doing so. Universal Pictures is producing a project that will center around the two women and the process they went through writing their stories and uncover the scandal centering around Weinstein, and the studio has been busy getting to work: they have just cast Carey Mulligan and Zoe Kazan to play reporters Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor.
Given the gravity of the situation it is no surprise that this story was just waiting to be turned into a film. This event quite arguably reshaped the landscape of Hollywood and how the entertainment industry will operate for many years to come, and absolutely for the better. Universal is playing their cards right getting the project off the ground, casting Mulligan who was nominated for an Oscar earlier this year for her role on Promising Young Woman and Kazan has made noise in projects such as The Plot Against America and The Ballad of Buster Scruggs. The project remains in the early stages of production and more details are sure to emerge in the coming weeks as production progresses.
