NBC Announces Mini-Series on Hillary Clinton

LOS ANGELES â€" Well in advance of the 2016 presidential election, Hillary Rodham Clinton is a big story.

NBC announced here on Saturday that it was preparing a four-hour mini-series based on the life of Mrs. Clinton and hoped to broadcast it before any possible formal declaration that she was running. That would avoid the possibility of other candidates demanding equal time, said Robert Greenblatt, NBC’s top entertainment executive.

Mr. Greenblatt said NBC bought the project even though it had no script yet, though the deal came with a star attached: Diane Lane, who was nominated for an Academy Award in 2003 for her leading role in the film “Unfaithful.” The Clinton project will be written and directed by Courtney Hunt, who was nominated for an Oscar for writing the film “Frozen River.”

NBC’s release described the project as a mini-series that would “recount Clinton’s life as a wife, politician and cabinet member from 1998 to present.” That would include her run for the presidential nomination in 2008.

The NBC release also said, “The script will begin with Clinton living in the White House as her husband is serving the second of his two terms as president. In the years following, she would eventually become a United States senator, run for president and, ultimately, serve the country as secretary of state.”

Mr. Greenblatt said the project would most likely include aspects that were both critical of Mrs. Clinton and supportive of her. He said he doubted Mrs. Clinton was aware of the project yet.

“We literally just closed the deal,” he said. But he said he did not expect her to comment on the project. “I don’t think she will endorse it,” he said.