“W,” Oliver Stone’s biopic about U.S. president George W. Bush, will hit theatres in the fall.

Indie studio Lionsgate announced Friday that the film will start shooting Monday in Louisiana and is set for an Oct. 17 theatrical release, shortly before the presidential election.

According to a statement from the studio, the movie will tell the story of Bush’s “struggles and triumphs, how he found both his wife and his faith, and of course the critical days leading up to [his] decision to invade Iraq.”

Josh Brolin, who recently starred in the Oscar-winning “No Country For Old Men,” will play Bush, while Elizabeth Banks (”Seabiscuit,” “The 40 Year Old Virgin”) will portray Laura Bush.

The rest of the cast is rounded out by familiar faces including Thandie Newton (”Crash”) as Condoleezza Rice, Ioan Gruffudd (”Fantastic Four”) as Tony Blair, Jeffrey Wright (”Syriana”) as Colin Powell, Scott Glenn (”The Bourne Ultimatum”) as Donald Rumsfeld, James Cromwell (”L.A. Confidential”) as former President George H.W. Bush and Ellen Burstyn (”Requiem For A Dream”) as Barbara Bush.

The roles of Vice President Dick Cheney and former White House political adviser Karl Rove have yet to be cast.

“Despite a meteoric, almost illogical rise to power, and a tremendous influence on the world, we don’t really know much about Mr. Bush beyond the controlled images we’ve been allowed to see on TV,” Stone said in a statement. “This movie’s taking a bold stab at looking behind that curtain.”

It’s not Stone’s first time helming a movie about a U.S. president – he previously directed 1995’s “Nixon” and 1991’s controversial “JFK.”


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