Bush biopic set for pre-election release

Oliver Stone plans to release his biopic of George Bush before the US general election, a move that is unlikely to go down well with Republican nominee John McCain. Although filming of the movie, called W after the president's middle initial, only begins this month, Stone, who has previously made films about Richard Nixon and JFK, says he will move heaven and earth to have it ready for November, when Americans go to the polls.

"It depends on how fast an edit I do," he told Entertainment Weekly, which features a mock-up of Bush, as played by Josh Brolin, on the cover of its latest issue (pictured), along with his wife Laura Bush, played by Elizabeth Banks. "It would cost money to rush it, but I've done that kind of thing before. This would be the fastest of my life, but it's not impossible. I can do it."

Stone, who was at Yale at the same time as Bush, but cannot recall ever meeting him, had a tough time casting the £30m film. Although most of the major roles have now been filled - Ellen Burstyn plays George's mother Barbara, Welsh actor Ioan Gruffudd plays Tony Blair and Thandie Newton takes on Condoleezza Rice - no actor has yet agreed to portray Vice President Dick Cheney.

Says producer Bill Block: "You'd be amazed how many male stars of a certain age in Hollywood are Republicans. I'm not going to name names, but a lot of them just didn't want to have anything to do with it." And according to Stone, even some of Tinseltown's young Democrats couldn't be persuaded. "They hate Bush so much," he says. "They can't understand why I'd want to make a movie about him. They can't even imagine themselves playing him or playing anybody around him."

This is odd. The film looks set to be a far from flattering portrayal of the president, if a recently leaked script is any indication. In one scene, a 26-year-old Bush drives his car on to his parents' front lawn and drunkenly shouts insults at his father: "Thank you Mr Perfect. Mr War Hero. Mr F***ing God-Almighty."