Annapurna Pictures has partnered with Susan and Robert Downey Jr.’s Team Downey production company on an untitled feature film based on the episode “Man of the People” from Gimlet Media’s Reply All podcast. Richard Linklater is set to direct the project with Downey Jr. attached to star.
The podcast tells the true story of charlatan Dr. John Brinkley who scams his way to fame and fortune using fake medicine, populism, and the newest technology of the time: radio. As Brinkley’s fame grows, he gets the attention of Dr. Morris Fishbein, editor of the American Medical Association who begins a decade long quest to take him down. “Reply All,” which features stories about how people shape technology and how technology shapes people, aired “Man of the People” on January 19.
