Aaron Sorkin to make directorial debut with John Edwards biopic

Aaron Sorkin should be sitting pretty right now. We just yesterday got the first real glimpse of the incredible-looking SOCIAL NETWORK which he penned (an amazing script I hear). And now comes word via THR that Sorkin will be making his feature directorial debut with THE POLITICIAN, based on the Andrew Young book that focuses on former senator John Edwards’ run for the presidency and the scandal that brought him down.

“This is a first-hand account of an extraordinary story filled with motivations, decisions and consequences that would have lit Shakespeare up,” Sorkin tells THR. “There’s much more to Andrew’s book than what has been reported, and I’m grateful that he’s trusting me with it.”

The book certainly does appear to be perfect political fodder for Sorkin. Author Andrew Young became a volunteer for the Edwards Senate campaign in 1998, and eventually became one of the North Carolina politician’s closest confidants. During the presidential primary back in 2008, Edwards made unethical demands of Young that involved the candidate’s mistress and the child he had with her. Juicy stuff.

Sorkin’s next two written projects we’ll be seeing on the big screen are the aforementioned THE SOCIAL NETWORK and then later MONEYBALL, starring Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill, which just recently began filming.