Can Katie Holmes play Jackie O? That’s the question network after network – from History Channel to FX, Starz and Showtime – more than likely said no to after the eight-part miniseries The Kennedys failed to find a home on any of aforementioned networks. ReelzChannel, however, thinks otherwise and has picked up the production from 24 executive producer Joel Surnow and writer Stephen Kronish.
The young cable channel is available in about 60 million homes nationwide – included on services like DirecTV, Dish Network, AT&T, Time Warner Cable, Comcast and Charter – and will premiere the expensive miniseries April 3, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Starring Greg Kinnear as John F. Kennedy, Holmes as Jackie Kennedy, Barry Pepper as Robert F. Kennedy and Tom Wilkinson as Joe Kennedy, pressure from the Kennedy family – including Caroline Kennedy and Maria Shriver – played a role in the series’ abrupt cancellation in January, with History Channel parent A&E Television Networks stating that the “dramatic interpretation” wasn’t a fit for the “History brand.” Insiders at the time told THR that Caroline Kennedy’s upcoming book featuring a collection of unreleased interviews with the late Jackie Kennedy timed to the 50th anniversary of the first year of JFK’s presidency in the fall played a key role in dumping the series.
While the script could indeed take some liberties with the famed family, perhaps it was footage of the production that ultimately doomed the series from the start.
Take a look at the trailer:
Yes, Holmes looks fantastic sporting Jackie’s famous style. The family home footage scenes are beautifully shot. But then she speaks. And then Kinnear speaks. The accents are terrible and Holmes, despite her TV background and critical success on the big screen in films like Thank You for Smoking and Pieces of April, comes off lost in a role that’s truly bigger than she is. No, there certainly will never be another Camelot if the trailer is any indication.
While Jackie Kennedy Onassis is best known as the former first lady (from 1961 to Kennedy’s assassination in 1963) with legendary style and elegance, she also had a successful career as a book editor at Doubleday press from 1978 to 1994. She is partially remembered for her contribution to the arts and historic preservation.
Considering the politics behind finding a channel on which to air the multimillion-dollar production, who’s to say if the “dramatic interpretation” of the story or the actual performances were to blame for the shuffling. There’s only one way to find out.
Will you watch The Kennedys?
