A biopic based on the life of the late Republican Senator John McCain is in the works from Craig Turk, the producer of “FBI” and “The Good Wife,” and the film has the blessing of Cindy McCain and his family.
Stampede Ventures on Wednesday optioned the rights to “The Luckiest Man: Life With John McCain,” a biography written by Mark Salter, one of McCain’s most trusted political advisors and confidants. Salter will also co-write the screenplay to the film along with Turk, who was once also chief legal counsel during McCain’s 2000 presidential campaign.
Turk and Greg Silverman will produce the John McCain biopic under the Stampede Ventures banner. Cindy McCain will executive produce.
Stampede has also optioned two other books by McCain and Salter, “Faith of My Fathers” and “Worth the Fighting For,” and the team will work closely with Cindy McCain to make sure the film is both the first and most comprehensive story of McCain’s life on screen.
“It has been a long time wish of mine to collaborate with the brilliant Craig Turk, and it seems more fitting than ever that we tell the story of one of America’s greatest public servants and believers in our democratic system,” Greg Silverman, founder and CEO of Stampede Ventures, said in a statement. “It is Stampede Ventures’ honor to celebrate the valor and character of John McCain, working with his family and loved ones to produce this inspiring American story.”
“John’s story is one of incredible heroism, of serving causes greater than his own self-interest,” Cindy McCain said. “There is no better time to tell it. I’m excited to share his life and legacy, and know this film will be a tremendous inspiration to people all over the world.”
“Working for John McCain was one of the great honors of my professional life,” Turk said. “Having the opportunity to bring his life to the screen – and to do it with people I admire as much as Greg, Mark, and Cindy – is an incredible privilege.”
“I’ve been helping to tell John McCain’s story for three decades,” Salter said. “It will be a special privilege to work with Craig, Greg and the McCain family to tell it in film.”
McCain served as a U.S. Navy Officer and was a senator for Arizona from 1987 up until his death in 2018, and he won the Republican nomination in the 2008 election.
Craig Turk is represented by Michael Gendler of Gendler & Kelly.