Rachel Maddow to take a break from the news to work on, what else, a Ben Stiller movie

An adaptation of Maddow's Bag Man podcast is in the works from Stiller and Lorne Michaels

By Matt Schimkowitz  |  February 1, 2022 | 5:15am
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Rachel Maddow to take a break from the news to work on, what else, a Ben Stiller movie
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Earlier today, MSNBC anchor and commentator Rachel Maddow announced that she would be taking a break from her show to prepare for work on a Ben Stiller movie based on her book and podcast series Bag Man. Maddow’s Bag Man follows the seemingly forgotten crimes of President Richard Nixon’s Vice President Spiro Agnew, who carried out bribery and extortion schemes from inside the White House. Agnew resigned in 1973. “This has been in the works for a while now, but now it looks like it’s going to happen,” Maddow said on tonight’s broadcast.

Variety announced that Stiller would be directing and co-writing the film with Adam Perlman and Mike Yarvitz last year. Maddow intitally signed on as an executive producer, but it seems like her role has expanded significantly if she’s leaving the show for several months. Lorne Michaels is also signed on to produce, so maybe this is a comedy?

Though Maddow is one of MSNBC’s biggest stars, she nearly walked away from it all earlier this year—until a contract negotiation allowed for more hiatuses like the one she’s about to take. Per Deadline, Maddow will still make time for coverage of major events, like President Joe Biden’s State Of The Union, but she will also be working on a new book and podcast, which means less TV time.

Maddow assured viewers that she’d be back to her normal timeslot in April. However, she warned them that another hiatus could be around the corner, presumably whenever Stiller writes a cameo for her in Zoolander 3.

Speaking of Stiller, his new TV series, Severence, premieres on Apple TV+ this month. Severance is a sci-fi satire about office workers who have a special lobotomy that allows them to put up a hard mental block in their work-life balance. More importantly, we’re hoping someone in the show carries on in the tradition of Stiller’s Escape At Dannemora star Benicio Del Toro and burps “Don’t tell anybody” at some point.

 
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