Dominique Strauss-Khan’s summer sex scandal could make him a Hollywood hit
Women, sex, politics and power – the real-life political sex scandal that derailed former-IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Khan’s bid for the French presidency has all the makings of a box-office smash. So it comes as little surprise to hear that the sordid story is about to get the Hollywood treatment, with French actor Gerard Depardieu said to be in the frame for the lead role as that of the scandalized financier.
According to the recent exclusive in Deadline.com, American director Abel Ferrara of Bad Lieutenant fame has already met with DSK and his wife Anne Sinclair to discuss the prospect of turning the story of last summer’s huge sex scandal into big-screen fodder for movie-goers.
It’s also rumored that French actress Isabelle Adjan is being lined up to play Mrs. Sinclair as the female lead.
Speaking to Deadline.com, producer Vincent Maraval said that the idea for the movie version of the DSK affair came about during the filming of 4:44 Last Day On Earth earlier this year. He said that he had originally told Ferrara to use DSK’s life as the basis for a fictionalized movie.
Ferrara is now said to be collaborating closely with Christ Zois on the script for the DSK movie, which would also feature elements of other modern day political sex-scandals, including those of Silvio Berlusconi and Bill Clinton.
Still, nothing is confirmed yet according to Maraval, as the project is not yet officially under development.
However, he did reveal that Ferrara, Depardieu and Adjani desired to work together on something, but said “we have to see if there’s a film there.”
For his part, Depardieu has refused to confirm the story one way or the other when asked to comment by the French newspaper Le Journal Du Dimanche.
“I’m good at playing characters I don’t resemble or don’t like,” was all he would say on the matter.
Strauss-Kahn, who is 62, was the head of the International Monetary Fund for four years, and was chasing a nomination for the French presidential election in 2012 before the sex scandal broke out early last summer.
Following his arrest on charges of sexually assaulting and attempting to rape hotel maid Nafissatou Diallo at the Sofitel in Manhattan, DSK was forced to resign his position in order to fight the allegations against him.
The charges were later dropped by authorities after they admitted to doubts surrounding the credibility of Ms. Diallo’s testimony. The scandal is far from over however, as the maid later filed a civil suit against Mr. Strauss-Khan.
Following his return to France in September, Strauss-Khan apologized for having a consensual but “inappropriate” relationship with Ms. Diallo.
DSK was also accused of sexual assault by the French writer, Tristane Banon, but this charge was also rejected as the statute of limitations had already passed.