Despite reports the late Frank Sinatra’s family isn’t overwhelmed with the idea that HBO has produced a movie on the Rat Pack, HBO movie head John Matoian said Frank’s daughter Tina should like the film.
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The executive said he spoke with Tina before he addressed TV writers at the Television Critics Association summer press tour earlier this month.
“She hopes she likes it,” Matoian said of the telecast, scheduled for Aug. 22. “I told her I thought she would more than like it.”
“The Rat Pack” stars Ray Liotta as Frank Sinatra, Don Cheadle as Sammy Davis, Jr. and Joe Mantegna as Dean Martin. The Sinatra family had no input into the project, said screenwriter Kario Salem. The film follows the on-stage and off-stage antics of the group of men who were at the top of the entertainment world in the ’50s and ’60s.
“It is as well-vetted a script as we’ve ever done, through all the various legal and source materials we use to make sure it has integrity and accuracy,” Matoian said.
Before shooting the film, each of the actors was given a host of research material.
Mantegna said he read Martin’s biographies, spoke to Martin’s friends and spoke to two of his children.
Liotta said his prep was simpler: “I got blue eyes, I’m from Jersey, close enough,” he quipped.