State of Play is an upcoming American political thriller scheduled for release in 2009. It is a film adaptation of the critically acclaimed British television serial State of Play, which first aired on BBC One in 2003.

It is directed by Kevin Macdonald and written by Matthew Michael Carnahan, Tony Gilroy, Peter Morgan, and Billy Ray.

The film tells of a journalist’s probe into the suspicious death of a Congressman’s mistress. Russell Crowe plays the journalist and Ben Affleck plays the Congressman. Support comes from Helen Mirren, Jason Bateman, Robin Wright Penn, Rachel McAdams, and Jeff Daniels.

The plot of the six hour mini-series has been condensed to fit two hours, and the location changed to Washington, D.C. Macdonald said State of Play would be informed by the films of the 1970s, and explore the topical subjects of journalistic independence and the relationship between politicians and the press.

The film is being produced by Andell Entertainment and Working Title Films for Universal Pictures, which acquired the rights after they were subject to two bidding wars. Brad Pitt was to star in the role ultimately filled by Crowe, but he left the production after disagreements with the studio over the direction of script rewrites.

Pitt’s departure led to the postponement of filming, which was originally scheduled to start in November 2007. The delay meant that Edward Norton could not play the role of the Congressman due to a scheduling conflict, and he was replaced by Affleck. Principal photography took place from January 11, 2008 to April 6, 2008 in Los Angeles and Washington D.C. State of Play was to be released in the United States towards the end of 2008, but the production delay saw the date changed to April 17, 2009.

Premise
The plot will be similar to that of the original six-hour program, retaining several main characters, but condensing and changing certain aspects to fit the two-hour format.

The film is set in Washington, D.C. and tells of Stephen Collins (Affleck), a fast-rising United States Congressman with ambitions to become his party’s presidential candidate.

This goal is threatened after his mistress (Maria Thayer), a former research assistant, is found dead in suspicious circumstances, while right-wing opponents to Collins’ campaign for social reform attempt to use the scandal to kill his political career.

During a probe into a series of seemingly unrelated murders, Cal McCaffrey (Crowe), an investigative journalist and Collins’ former campaign manager, finds himself tasked with solving the case, becoming romantically involved with the Congressman’s estranged wife (Wright Penn) in the process.

Directed by Kevin Macdonald
Produced by
Andrew Hauptman
Tim Bevan
Eric Fellner
Written by
Matthew Michael Carnahan
Tony Gilroy
Peter Morgan
Billy Ray
Paul Abbott (series)

Starring
Russell Crowe as Cal McCaffrey
Ben Affleck as Congressman Stephen Collins
Rachel McAdams as Della Frye
Helen Mirren as Cameron Lynne
Jason Bateman as Dominic Foy

Music by Alex Heffes
Cinematography Rodrigo Prieto
Editing by Justine Wright
Distributed by Universal Pictures
Release date(s)
April 17, 2009 (US)
April 24, 2009 (UK)
May 28, 2009 (AUS)
Country: United States, United Kingdom
Language English

Official site: www.stateofplaymovie.net