NEWS FLASH:

Oliver Stone is making a movie about a controversial president. *Clutch the pearls!* His new, high-budget, likely bloated epic, W, is due to hit theaters in January 2009, before George Bush leaves office.

I wonder what prompted him to choose Josh Brolin to play Bush…he must’ve had a fabulous audition. USA Today has an interactive page dedicated to the remaining casting issues, where readers can select who they think should play the as-yet-uncast roles of Rumsfeld, Cheney, Rice and the Bush twins.

And who’s playing Laura Bush? Elizabeth Banks. My guess is that Stone will be going waaaaaay back into the early days of George and Laura, followed by some major make-up magic.

USA Today didn’t select my pick to play Dick Cheney: David Huddleston. What’s the matter with them, recommending slackers like Clint Eastwood, Michael Caine and Jack Nicholson? Didn’t they love Huddleston’s work in Blazing Saddles? Tell you what. People just don’t recognize quality theater anymore.

In other news: my show opens tonight. Yikes.