‘Tear Down This Wall’: ‘Veep’ Writer Ian Martin To Pen Cold War Satire
Contemporary Washington has surpassed the point of satire, so Hollywood has to go back in time to effectively mine new comedy from politics. Emmy-winningVeepwriterIan Martinwill be going all the way back to 1986, with a new political satire on the historic meeting between U.S. president Ronald Reagan and Soviet premier Mikhail Gorbachev in a Cold War movie titledTear Down This Wall.
The Hollywood Reporterbroke the news that Martin has been tapped by Circle Pictures (The Man in the High Castle) to write the screenplay forTear Down This Wall, a “dark, satirical feature-length twist” on the historic 1986 meeting between Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev that was seen as the beginning of the end of the Cold War.Tear Down This Wallis inspired byAn Impossible Dream: Reagan, Gorbachev, and a World Without the Bombby author Guillaume Serina and developed by Circle Pictures president Stewart Mackinnon. It’s described as a comedy drama that “will track the historic events before and after the now famous Summit at Reykjavik, which many historians view as the seminal moment that jump-started the end of the Cold War… Even more importantly, it will provide an in-depth look at the bond that was created between two men diametrically opposed politically, but with a common goal to rid the world of nuclear threat.” The title refers to Reagan’s famous phrase during his 1987 Berlin Wall Speech in West Berlin.
It’s a story ripe for Martin’s keen satirical mind, known for his award-winning writing alongside Armando Ianucci for Ianucci’s breakout British satirical seriesThe Thick of It, for which Martin was originally hired as a “swearing consultant.” Martin would go on to work with Ianucci for several more projects includingIn The Loop,The Death of StalinandAvenue 5. Martin won an Emmy for his writing across five seasons ofVeepand was nominated for a BAFTA for co-writingThe Death of Stalin. In a statement, Martin said:
“This story will follow a long history of political satire by telling the story of two men driven by clever women, pretending to be in control as the world around them cracked and crumbled. It will reveal the absurdity of high-level diplomacy, showing real people stripped to their emotional, ridiculous human core as they maneuver behind the scenes, each side desperate to seem morally superior to the other. It will humanize ‘Gorby and Ronnie,’ brought together by fate, unable ever to be friends but understanding one another completely.”
After seeing Martin’s work onThe Death of Stalin, I’m confident Martin can inject the same kind of absurdist wit into the historic meeting between Reagan and Gorbachev, even without Ianucci involved. And the fact that Martin started out as a “swearing specialist” onThe Thick of Itjust makesTear Down This Wallall the more exciting.
Also joining the project as executive producer will beJere Sullivan, a senior public relations advisor for communications giant Edelman, who will serve as communications and political advisor on the project.
