Amazon Studios has landed “Linda and Monica” — a movie about the relationship between Monica Lewinsky and Linda Tripp.
Amazon has picked up film rights to the script, written by Flint Wainess and named to the 2016 Black List. At that point, “Linda and Monica” had already been set up at Escape Artists. Todd Black, Jason Blumenthal, and Steve Tisch of Escape Artists will produce.
The story details the bizarre relationship between Lewinsky and Tripp, who were close friends when they both worked in public affairs at the Pentagon. Tripp secretly recorded phone conversations with Lewinsky that detailed her sexual relationship with President Bill Clinton, then leaked the tapes, which led to impeachment hearings.
It’s the second Lewinsky project in the works this year. “American Crime Story” producers Fox 21 TV and FX Productions announced in January that they had optioned Jeffrey Toobin’s book “A Vast Conspiracy: The Real Sex Scandal That Nearly Brought Down a President” for an upcoming installment. The book pulls apart the threads of the Clinton sex scandal that devoured the late 1990s, framing it as a legal thriller surrounding Lewinsky, Paula Jones, and Kenneth Starr.
Wainess is repped by UTA and Kaplan/Perrone Entertainment. The news was first reported by Deadline Hollywood.