George Santos’s “lying, grifting” life may soon be a major movie

It looks like former Rep. George Santos (R-NY) will have his scandalous life story immortalized in film.

Barely 24 hours after Congress kicked Santos out, Deadline reported that HBO Films is developing a film based on Mark Chiusano’s book, The Fabulist: The Lying, Hustling, Grifting, Stealing, and Very American Legend of George Santos. Chiusano’s book was released late last month.

Related: GOP congressman calls George Santos a “crook” for allegedly stealing from him & his mother

Santos shot back with an accusation that Max Miller is a “woman-beater.”

The screenplay is being written by Mike Makowsky, the screenwriter behind the 2019 school embezzlement drama Bad Education, and executively produced by Frank Rich, who worked on the HBO satirical political series Veep and the HBO familial corporate drama series Succession.

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“The film tells the story of a seemingly minor local race that wound up a battle for the soul of Long Island, and unexpectedly carved the path for the world’s most famous (and now disgraced) congressman,” wrote entertainment journalist Nellie Andreeva. “It follows the Gatsby-esque journey of a man from nowhere who exploited the system, waged war on truth, and swindled one of the wealthiest districts in the country to achieve his American Dream.”

The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s homoerotic 1925 novel, follows a wealthy millionaire who is dishonest about his past. Santos has admitted to fabricating large parts of his personal history during his election campaign. He is currently facing 23 federal charges of campaign finance fraud.

The House voted to expel Santos in a 311-114 vote last Friday after the House Ethics Committee issued a November 16 report accusing Santos of illegally spending campaign funds on luxury goods, OnlyFans subscriptions, and cosmetic Botox treatments.

“Why would I want to stay here? To hell with this place,” Santos said immediately after the vote. C-SPAN showed footage of the removal of Santos’s name plaque from his Capitol office door shortly thereafter.

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Gay Asian actor Bowen Yang has regularly portrayed Santos on the weekly sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live. It’s unlikely that he’ll be considered to portray Santos in a dramatic film.

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