New Regency just closed a deal for a film based on the life of Robert F. Kennedy, with Matt Damon attached to the lead role and Gary Ross (Seabiscuit) to direct from a script penned by Steven Knight (Eastern Promises); all this according to Deadline Hollywood. The adaptation will be based on Evan Thomas’ RFK biography His Life.

This is all preliminary, of course. Knight has most likely not written a word, as he’s currently drafting an adaptation of the Dan Brown novel The Lost Symbol after just finishing the Bobby Fischer chess film Pawn Sacrifice, which Tobey Maguire is interested in. If Damon reads the eventual script and doesn’t like it, the film could be all but dead.

If he likes it, who knows. Either way, it sounds like something worth getting made.

Would you like to see Matt Damon play RFK for Gary Ross?