HBO Plans Movie About Bush and Florida Recount

HBO has announced their plans for the new film 'Recount,' which revisits the 2000 election turmoil in Florida.

The film, which will be directed by Oscar winner Sydney Pollack and executive produced by Paula Weinstein, is expected to premiere in spring 2008.

'Recount' is being written by actor Danny Strong and chronicles the weeks following the 2000 presidential election. It goes behind the scenes of the Florida recounts to explore the human drama of the ordinary people involved in the event that would decide the leadership of the country.

"It's a very compelling piece that takes a well-known event and deconstructs it from the point of view of the people involved," HBO Films president Colin Callender said.

Callender emphasizes that although the events in 'Recount' take on some controversial political moments in recent U.S. history, the film has no political agenda.

"It doesn't take sides," he said. "It's a fascinating look at democracy where the rubber meets the road -- a look at the election process like we have never seen it before."

The story in Florida started with confusion on election night when the TV networks at first declared Al Gore the winner in Florida, then later called George Bush the winner in Florida. They eventually agreed the race was too close to call. After that followed a month of recounts and legal maneuvers from both sides that included the infamous hanging chads.

More than 175,000 voters ballots were rejected, which is significant considering Bush was eventually the winner by 537 votes.

The film will tell stories of some of those voters as well as Republican and Democratic teams that were in Florida during the saga.

Strong pitched the idea to Weinstein a year and a half ago, and the project was eventually taken to HBO.

"I feel that the script is extraordinary, and we have the perfect director in Sydney Pollack," she said. "Nobody would be able to deal with complexity of the issues and (convey) the dramatic twists and turns of the story with honesty and truthfulness better than Sydney."