Getty Images

Just weeks before his adaptation of Stephen King’s The Dark Tower hits theaters, Danish filmmaker Nikolaj Arcel has signed on to direct RFK, Warner Bros.’ biopic of iconic politician Robert F. Kennedy that will star Matt Damon, the Tracking Board has exclusively learned.

Arcel wrote the script with Rasmus Heisterberg and Felipe Marino. Damon will produce with Jennifer Todd and Drew Vinton. Production is slated to start early next year.

The younger brother of John F. Kennedy, RFK served as the U.S. Attorney General under both JFK and President Lyndon B. Johnson, as well as the United States junior senator from New York from January 1965 until his assassination in June 1968. He gained national attention after publicly challenging Teamsters president Jimmy Hoffa regarding corrupt union practices in organized labor.

RFK has been a longtime passion project of Damon’s, and the role could very well put him in the 2018 awards race, should the film debut before the end of next year.

Arcel wrote the original Girl With the Dragon Tattoo starring Noomi Rapace before going on to write and direct A Royal Affair, which made a star out of Alicia Vikander. He also wrote two crime movies in the underrated Department Q series before landing the coveted Dark Tower job. Sony will release that highly-anticipated Idris Elba-Matthew McConaughey movie on Aug. 4.

Arcel is represented by WME, United Agents and attorney Robert S. Wallerstein.

Jeff Sneider | Editor in Chief