Synopsis

Jack Burden, a politically connected Louisiana reporter, follows the rise of Willie Stark, an idealistic lawyer who becomes a powerful populist governor. As Stark trades reform for influence, Burden uncovers corruption, old family secrets, and the personal cost of political ambition. Their intertwined lives move toward betrayal and violence as power reshapes their loyalties and ideals.

Factoids & Trivia

• The film is adapted from Robert Penn Warren's Pulitzer Prize-winning 1946 novel. It is also a remake of the 1949 film version, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture.

• Willie Stark is a fictional character loosely inspired by Louisiana governor Huey Long, whose political career ended with his assassination in 1935.

• Production took place extensively in Louisiana, including New Orleans, Morgan City, Donaldsonville, and the Louisiana State Capitol in Baton Rouge.

• Filming was completed in April 2005. The planned December 16, 2005 release was postponed by Sony until September 22, 2006.

• James Horner composed the score and reunited with the production's writer-producer after previously scoring Searching for Bobby Fischer.

• Despite its large budget and prominent ensemble, the film earned approximately $9.5 million worldwide against an estimated $55 million production cost.

• The newspaper shown during the final scene carries an incorrect date: April 22, 1954 was a Thursday, not a Sunday.