The New Republic is reporting that W. will begin production on April 21st. Earlier reports are stating that the film will be shot in Louisiana. You can check out the complete article below.

W, the highly-anticipated Oliver Stone biopic on America’s 43rd president, has been making a slow march toward its April 21st production start date. Josh Brolin (a dead ringer who can act!) has been slated to play Dubya for months, but in recent weeks, producers have continued to flesh out the cast list. Ellen Burstyn and James Cromwell, of Requiem for a Dream and Babe, respectively, are slated to play Barbara and George H.W. Bush. Thandie Newton of Crash and Elizabeth Banks of…uh…will play Condi Rice and Laura Bush. (First thoughts: too hot!) Welshman Iaon Gruffudd is in talks to play Tony Blair, and Jeffrey Wright is being floated as Colin Powell.

ABC News and Politico, both apparently in possession of a draft copy of the screenplay, offered separate rundowns last week of the father-son dynamic that has filled pop psychology regarding Bush 43. Key scenes include the drumbeat to war in 2002, the “Mission Accomplished” landing in 2003, as well as the softer side: college-age W guzzling garbage-pail vodka; leader-of-the-free-world-age W choking on a pretzel. The tendentious Stone summed up his film in one sweep: “How did Bush go from being an alcoholic bum to the most powerful figure in the world?”

Of course, the Hollywood treatment could detract from the film’s political credibility. (Judge/read the first page of the script yourself here [pdf].) But in the end, its success rests squarely with the talent. So, Talkbackers: Who are your picks for the rest of the Bush gang (Rumsfeld, Cheney, Rove, Powell, Chalabi, Miers–Perino)? I nominate this guy for VP.

As Oliver Stone casts more and more beautiful people in his George W. biopic W, and as rumors fly that the script is even more insane than you could imagine, it seems Stone might be aiming more for a comedy than a straight-up drama. And now that he’s cast the revered actor who will play Bush’s press secretary Ari Fleischer, it’s all but certain that there’s some funny business going on. Because the guy playing Fleischer is Daily Show correspondent and comedy sidekick Rob Corddry. Yes, in an Oliver Stone movie, a guy who had a bit part in Semi-Pro will play a major role.

Seriously, is MTV News just punking us? Is this an April Fool’s Joke that just got left out in the rain? Because casting hotter-than-hot Elizabeth Banks as dowdy automaton Laura Bush is weird, casting hotter-than-hot Thandie Newton as cruel-and-calculating Condoleeza Rice is even weirder, but throwing Rob Corddry into the mix makes this the weirdest cast since, like, The Towering Inferno (and, guys, that movie had both Fred Astaire and O.J. Simpson in it).

Yeah, sure, Corddry could be this amazing dramatic actor that none of us know about. It’s possible. But when you’re a guy who’s just getting started in a comedy career, why would you star in a movie about a President no one likes? And why play a guy who helped convince journalists that the President no one likes was leading us into a war that was worth fighting? OK, OK, I know I shouldn’t be getting into politics, but I’m just that confused.

FYI, the roles of Dick Cheney and Karl Rove have yet to be cast. Since they’re virtually identical fat white men, and there’s only a few fat white men in Hollywood to choose from, let’s start predicting. Alec Baldwin could gain weight! John Goodman could lose weight! Hell, Sarah Silverman could play Cheney with the right prosthetics. With Corddry in the mix, anything is possible. You too could play a neo-con!

From Cinema Blend

NEW YORK (AP) - Oliver Stone’s film about President George W. Bush is expected to begin shooting within a month with a goal of being released before the president leaves office next January.

A person close to the film says “W.” will begin filming late next month in Shreveport, Louisiana.

Stone has said that the film will focus on the life and presidency of Bush and won’t be an anti-Bush statement. He told Daily Variety it would be “a fair, true portrait” of a man who rose out of alcoholism to be the most powerful figure in the world. Representatives for Stone are not confirming reports that Josh Brolin has been cast as the president with Elizabeth Banks as Laura Bush.

“W.” will be Stone’s third film dealing with presidential matters, following “Nixon” and “JFK.” The filmmaker has been an outspoken critic of the administration’s decision to invade Iraq.

From WIS TV

Biographers for President Bush are not too pleased with the script for Oliver Stone’s new movie “W” that’s set to start shooting in Shreveport in just a few weeks. The film stars Elizabeth Banks as Laura Bush and Josh Brolin as George Bush and is a depiction of the president’s rise to power.

According to a story on the Hollywood Reporter’s website, in the movie President Bush is a foul-mouthed, reformed drunk, obsessed with baseball, Saddam Hussein and has a conflicted relationship with his dad.

Bush biographers are saying while specific scenes are based on fact, the screenplay contains inaccurate and over the top caricatures of Bush and his inner circle. The script has already gone through two drafts.

From KSLA

First, I wanted to thank everyone for the nice comments about the site’s opening, it means a lot since I really want to make a great resource for Elizabeth fans. So thanks alot! :)

Second, I have created three buttons to link this website. You can check them out at the link us page or by using the examples below. ;)

Finally, I wanted to remind everyone about The Banks Board. If you want to join up and start talking about Elizabeth, please feel free to do so! :D

I’ll be making some real updates soon!