Even though the subject matter is difficult, Spotlight has become one of the best films and most-rewatchable films of the past 20 years (in my opinion). Spotlight is about the Boston Globe team who uncovered the Catholic Church’s decades of sex abuse and cover-ups. The cast is great: Rachel McAdams, Mark Ruffalo, John Slattery, Michael Keaton, Liev Schreiber and on and on. The screenplay is amazing, and it’s just a really well-done film. A very deserving Best Picture Oscar-winner. Well, the Boston Globe uncovered a new scandal this month, and it’s possible that the Globe’s coverage might end up getting adapted for the screen. The scandal? A western-Massachusetts lesbian bar tried to drop their masking police and all hell broke loose. The debacle which has become one of the funniest viral stories in years. I covered it last week. Well, according to the Hollywood Reporter, a Spotlight-esque film or documentary might be in the works about it.

In the early 2000s, The Boston Globe published a series of bombshell articles that exposed the cover-up of abuse within the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston. The series was one of the more consequential pieces of journalism this century, winning a Pulitzer Prize and inspiring Spotlight, the 2015 film that won a best picture Oscar.

Now, a very different Boston Globe piece has captured the zeitgeist — and Hollywood’s attention. The article in question is titled “A Western Mass. lesbian bar required KN-95 masks. When it changed the rules, all hell broke loose.”

The Sept. 22 article by Annalisa Quinn was all over social media feeds this week and quickly became one of the most read stories in Globe history.

Now, insiders tell THR that UTA, which represents the Globe, has been fielding inquiries about potential adaptations for the article — both in the scripted space and the documentary sphere. Indeed, the article has several ready-made characters, from a besieged bar owner drowning in debt to former patrons furious that the bar has killed its mask policy — and who go above and beyond to let the owner know what they think.

Articles are optioned all the time, of course, but only a select few make it to the screen, such as this weekend’s Robert Pattinson movie Primetime, which was based on a 2007 Esquire article. As sources involved in newspaper packages note, anything that gives your project a competitive edge is needed in this tough media landscape. “Everyone is scared, and nobody wants to make a decision,” notes one observer in this space. A project based on an article like this one? That could at least give a decision-maker the feeling they’ve got a safer bet.

As for the Globe, a spokesperson tells THR, “This story has certainly resonated with a wide range of audiences nationally and internationally. It is now one of the most-read stories we’ve published, and has already garnered many thousands of subscriptions.”

[From THR]

I hope Hollywood turns this into a feature film, quite honestly. I feel like Emma Stone should come on board right away as a star and producer – she has just the vibe needed to get this greenlit, and she would instinctively know the correct tone. That’s where they need to go – take the film seriously, but do it as a high parody, with ultra-left-wing lesbian political gatekeeping as the villain. Regina Hall, perhaps? As the woman who called the therapist a cop. Julianne Moore, 100%. Mikey Madison, obviously, probably as the Boston Globe reporter. Jennifer Lawrence would be awesome too. God, it could be so much fun.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Antoni Shkraba, Ketut Subiyanto and Polina Tankilevitch on Pexels.