Paul Giamatti, who co-hosts his own podcast about all things high strange, is set to play paranormal broadcaster and author Art Bell in an upcoming biopic, Deadline reports. The site notes that the package comes courtesy of the Radio Silence team (Ready or Not, Scream, Abigail), with Amazon and Warner Bros. among those currently interested. […]
Paul Giamatti, who co-hosts his own podcast about all things high strange, is set to play paranormal broadcaster and author Art Bell in an upcoming biopic, Deadline reports.
The site notes that the package comes courtesy of the Radio Silence team (Ready or Not, Scream, Abigail), with Amazon and Warner Bros. among those currently interested.
Deadline details, “The pitch is a biopic about the late paranormal DJ Art Bell, who would broadcast his radio show from his home studio 65 miles west of Las Vegas, fielding unscreened telephone calls in a five-hour show on KNYE-FM called Coast to Coast.”
“Guests would offer up eyewitness stories on Bell’s show about alien encounters, past lives, time travel and more X-Files-like situations,” Deadline’s article this week continues.
The aforementioned podcast Chinwag similarly features Paul Giamatti and co-host Stephen Asma covering the very same topics, so this project is very much in the actor’s wheelhouse.
Sam Chalsen and Nelson Greaves are writing the screenplay for the film project.
Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett are the two key figures behind Radio Silence, with the duo also currently working on a sequel to Ready or Not with Samara Weaving set to return.
Producing the film project is Sophie Cassidy, the head of 2.0 Entertainment, and Jeff Katz, includes the announce. Katz started his career in talk radio and began chasing rights to the Art Bell project with Cassidy while they worked on The Pope’s Exorcist. He eventually worked with the city government of Pahrump, NV, Bell’s hometown, to build a relationship with and earn the support of Bell’s business partner Karen Jackson, as well as Bell’s family.
