EXCLUSIVE: Director Sean McNamara‘s Reagan, the first full-length feature on the 40th U.S. President, starring Dennis Quaid, has been picked up for North American distribution by ShowBiz Direct.
This will be the debut release from the recently launched studio which is led by exhibition veteran Kevin Mitchell, former Lionsgate distribution president Richie Fay, and the former co-president of Open Road distribution, Scott Kennedy. Pic is slated to hit theaters on August 30.
A biopic set against the backdrop of the Cold War, the film follows Reagan’s journey from his childhood in Dixon, Illinois to Hollywood and on to the White House. It begins with an aging Petrovich (Jon Voight), now 90 years old, being visited by an up-and-coming Russian leader who wants to know how the Soviet Union was lost. Petrovich, the spy who knows everything there is to know about Reagan, begins recounting the tale of his adversary: the man he mockingly nicknamed “The Crusader,” beginning in 1922, when 11-year-old Ronald Reagan faces his first life crisis.
Additional cast for Reagan includes Penelope Ann Miller as Nancy Reagan, Mena Suvari as Reagan’s first wife Jane Wyman, Lesley-Anne Down as Margaret Thatcher, David Henrie as teenage Reagan, and Kevin Dillon as Jack Warner. Originally scheduled for release in 2023, the film has faced a long road to theaters, following multiple delays due to the Covid pandemic and actors’ strike.
“Portraying Ronald Reagan was an enormous challenge,” Quaid told Deadline. “This is an important movie, one of my most interesting roles and I am really excited to work with the ShowBiz team to get this film opened in theatres this Summer.”
Said ShowBiz Direct’s Mitchell, “I’ve had my eyes on this movie for a while. Dennis Quaid does such an amazing job portraying Reagan.” The goal with ShowBiz Direct, he explained, “is to help close the gap between the creative community and exhibition while embracing the theatrical release of motion pictures in a very transparent way. REAGAN was sought by many, and we are happy that we could reach an agreement with Mark Joseph and his team.”
Andrew Kramer and Aubrey Thomason of Willkie Farr & Gallagher advised and negotiated the deal on behalf of Showbiz Direct while Jay Shanker of Jayaram Law negotiated on behalf of the film.