Charlize Theron to Star as Megyn Kelly in Roger Ailes Movie (Exclusive)

Charlize Theron and director Jay Roach are teaming to tell the tale of disgraced Fox News chairman Roger Ailes.

The project is being put together by Annapurna, which is already making a Dick Cheney biopic with helmer Adam McKay, and comes armed with a script by Charles Randolph, who won an Oscar for co-writing The Big Short. Annapurna is financing and producing the feature.

Theron will portray Megyn Kelly, a former lawyer who was a Fox News anchor for over a decade, rising up through the ranks from legal contributor to host of the popular series The Kelly File. Fox News reportedly tried to pressure her to come out in support of Ailes, but she refused.

Theron will also produce the feature along with Beth Kono and AJ Dix via their Denver & Delilah banner. Roach, Randolph and Margaret Riley are also producing.

Ailes ran Fox News and helped launch the careers of Kelly, Sean Hannity and Gretchen Carlson with his powerful channel. He also was also a prominent figure in Republican circles who helped elect presidents Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and George Bush.

Ailes was forced to resign in 2016 when a host of accusations of sexual misconduct surfaced, with Carlson and Kelly’s the most high-profile, and which contributed to his exit from the network.

The project is described as an ensemble pic, with Ailes and others who were involved at Fox News during his reign said to be major players in the piece. Characters included are likely to be Carlson, former anchor Greta Van Susteren, media mogul Rupert Murdoch and fired host Bill O'Reilly.

Roach has gained acclaim for taking on real-life political events in his movies, such as the 2000 presidential election and the Sarah Palin-centric feature Game Change. He is attached to direct the TV adaptation of Michael Wolff's explosive Trump book Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House. 

Theron is currently in theaters with Tully, the feature that reteams her with Young Adult filmmakers Jason Reitman and Diablo Cody, and is currently filming Lionsgate comedy Flarksy, in which she stars opposite Seth Rogen. Theron is repped by WME and Hansen Jacobson. 

Roach is repped by WME, Mosaic and Behr Abramson; Randolph is repped by CAA, Lighthouse and Loeb & Loeb.