Ben Stiller to co-write, direct, produce movie adaptation of Rachel Maddow’s Bag Man podcast

Actor-filmmaker Ben Stiller is set to direct the movie adaptation of Rachel Maddow’s hit 2018 podcast Bag Man. Focus Features is developing the project. Stiller is also co-writing the script with Adam Perlman and Mike Yarvitz, who produced the original podcast. Stiller tweeted the confirmation, writing he hopes the feature adaptation is funny and does justice to its source material. Check out the tweet here

I loved this podcast by and am really hoping we can make a movie that lives up to the compelling storytelling by @maddow and does justice to the real life heroes who stood up for truth and honesty in our institutions. I hope it’s funny too. https://t.co/Lzlow7sb9c

— Ben Stiller (@BenStiller) February 5, 2021

Based on one of the most brazen political bribery scandals in American History, Bag Man focuses on the 1973 political scandal surrounding Richard Nixon’s vice president Spiro Agnew, who quietly ran a bribery and extortion ring while nobody was paying attention. The improbable story asks: Is it possible for an American Vice President to carry out a criminal enterprise inside the White House and have nobody remember? A book on the podcast, titled Bag Man: The Wild Crimes, Audacious Cover-up, and Spectacular Downfall of a Brazen Crook in the White House, was published in December 2020. It was co-penned by Maddow and Yarvitz. Maddow is on board as executive producer on the film with Nicky Weinstock, Michael Price, Erin David and Andrew Singer. Stiller is producing the project with Lorne Michaels, Yarvitz and Josh McLaughlin. (With inputs from Press Trust of India)