Showtime has announced Russell Crowe (The Nice Guys) will headline a new limited series as deceased FOX News founder Roger Ailes in an adaptation of Gabriel Sherman’s book The Loudest Voice in the Room with Tom McCarthy (Spotlight) and Jason Blum of Blumhouse Television producing.
Based on the Gabriel Sherman book, the eight-episode series is set around Ailes and will focus on the last decade of his life, while also flashing back to key moments in his career, including his meeting with Richard Nixon on The Mike Douglas Show that both put him on the political path he became known for, as well as the sexual harassment accusations that would lead to his downfall.
“In many ways, the collision between the media and politics has come to define the world we live in today,” David Nevins, President and CEO of Showtime Networks, said. “We’ve seen this phenomenon depicted on screen as far back as the story of Charles Foster Kane, and it finds contemporary embodiment in the rise and fall of Roger Ailes. With Russell Crowe in the lead role, this limited series promises to be a defining story for this era.”
The first episode of the series was written by Sherman and McCarthy and will follow multiple viewpoints as they explore Ailes’ history as his effect on media as well as the sexual harassment allegations that came against him prior to his death.
