Pop Culture in Hudson Valley

Jan 9, 2012

09:00 AM

Hyde Park on Hudson Movie Stars Bill Murray as Roosevelt; Set to Premiere 2012

It’s official: FDR biopic Hyde Park on Hudson, starring Bill Murray as the iconic commander-in-chief, is our most-anticipated movie of 2012

Photograph by Nicole Dove

All of this Republican primary hubbub has got me in a presidential mood. But you know who I want to see walk through the door while “Hail to the Chief” is being played? Bill Murray.

No, I know the Rockland resident isn’t running for anything and probably never will. But he is playing Franklin Delano Roosevelt in my most anticipated movie of the year, Hyde Park on Hudson. I love a movie that has its Valley pride right in the title.

According to Daybreak Pictures, it’s about a weekend in 1930 when FDR and Eleanor hosted the King and Queen of England in the former president’s Dutchess County home of Hyde Park, New York. “But international affairs must be juggled with the complexities of FDR’s domestic establishment,” says the press release, “as wife, mother, and mistresses all conspire to make the royal weekend an unforgettable one.”

The cast is stellar, and not only because of Murray. He’s surrounded by great ladies: Olivia Williams (who got some attention for her chilling performance in Roman Polanski’s The Ghost Writer) plays Eleanor, while Laura Linney portrays Daisy, FDR’s mistress. Olivia Colam, fresh off The Iron Lady, is Queen Elizabeth.

Unfortunately, details about the release are tantalizingly quiet. Daybreak only says that Focus Features will release the film “in the second half of 2012.” We’ve got a long way to wait. But, until then, at least there are these awesome photos of Bill Murray as FDR.

What movies are you most looking forward to this year? Let me know in the comments.

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