Is Aronofsky planning to direct a George Washington biopic in the vein of Unforgiven?

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

Continuing his trend of utter unpredictability, it’s looking like Darren Aronofsky’s post-NOAH project might be about one George Washington, a man whose life is surprisingly underrepresented in cinematic terms.  Considering all the hullabaloo and seismic shifting the United States is going through right now, this may actually be the perfect time for a dramatic and detailed take on the Revolutionary War leader.

Paramount Pictures is currently negotiating to pick up THE GENERAL by scribes Adam Cooper & Bill Collage (ACCEPTED, TOWER HEIST), with Aronofsky already attached to direct.  Paramount currently has a first-look deal with Aronofsky and his production company Protozoa Pictures, so even if they end up not taking on THE GENERAL there’s still a very good chance that someone else will immediately snap it up.  Insofar as any details on THE GENERAL go, sources say that “the script is more of an ‘Unforgiven’-like tale rather than a straight historical drama.”

Hopefully we’ll know soon whether Paramount picks up the project, meaning that Aronofsky could then get a jump on casting and the like as THE GENERAL is a movie he is reportedly “eager to make.”  But until then, I’ll leave you with two quotations of Mr. Washington’s, since they still bear as much (if not more) power today than they did when first spoken:

1) “Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.” 2) “If the freedom of speech is taken away then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.”