Sunday, May 24, 2026

Exclusive: Adam McKay-Christian Bale Dick Cheney Movie Has New Title– “Backseat”

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You do know that Adam McKay, who went from Will Ferrell comedies to “The Big Short,” is making a movie about Dick Cheney.

Now I’m told the movie has a title: “Backseat.” This was apparently one of Cheney’s code names with the Secret Service because he was known as a backseat driver– to George W. Bush’s presidency. Many felt Cheney told Bush what to do most of the time. Cheney, to me, was one of the more evil players in American history. He was a war monger who managed to benefit from the Gulf War through his interests in Halliburton. He was a schemer whose interests lay with corporate America.

But I digress. Christian Bale is set to play Cheney, Steve Carell is signed to be Donald Rumsfeld, and Amy Adams would play Lynn Cheney.

All of these people are talented, but this is a horror film in the end. There is literally no one to root for.

Cheney’s other Secret Service name was “Angler” because he was a fisherman. I think that’s a better title, but no one asked me.

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Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman is the founder and editor-in-chief of Showbiz411. He wrote the FOX411 column on FoxNews.com from 1999 to 2009 and previously edited Fame magazine and wrote the "Intelligencer" column at New York magazine. His bylines have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the New York Daily News, the New York Post, Vogue, Details, and the Miami Herald. He is a voting member of the Critics Choice Awards (Film and Television branches), and his movie reviews are tracked by Rotten Tomatoes. is articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. With D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus, he co-produced the 2002 documentary "Only the Strong Survive," which screened at Directors' Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival.

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