'West Wing' director plans John Edwards movie: report

The creator of the hugely successful "West Wing" series will make a movie about John Edwards, the Democrat who lost his White House bid and had an extramarital affair while his wife battled cancer, Variety magazine reported Friday.

Aaron Sorkin has bought the rights to the book by Andrew Young, "The Politician: An Insider's Account of John Edward's Pursuit of the Presidency and the Scandal That Brought Him Down," the movie industry magazine said.

The book, by a former Edwards aide, tells how the candidate had an affair with campaign staff member Rielle Hunter and tried to cover it up even as he fought hard for the Democratic nomination eventually won by Barack Obama in 2008.

Only this year did Edwards, a wealthy lawyer, finally admit to having fathered a child with Hunter.

He and his wife of 32 years, Elizabeth Edwards, have separated. She has terminal breast cancer.

It will be a directorial debut for Sorkin, but he is well acquainted with political drama as the writer of both "West Wing," a long-running series set in the White House, and Cold War-era movie "Charlie Wilson's War."

The news of his movie plan immediately sparked guessing games on political blogs about the casting, with the Washington Post suggesting Tom Cruise for Edwards, who, like the actor, is known for his flashing smile.