Halle Berry is stepping into one of the most powerful roles of her career — literally.
According to Deadline, the Oscar winner is set to portray the President of the United States in The President Is Missing, a feature film in development at Apple Original Films based on the bestselling political thriller by Bill Clinton and James Patterson.
In the film, Berry will play President Joanna Duncan, a reimagined, gender-swapped version of the novel’s central character. The story centers on a major national security threat that forces the sitting president to withdraw from public view to prevent a catastrophic attack.
As the plot unfolds, the president must evade her security detail and operate outside the White House to prevent the country from plunging into chaos.
The adaptation is being written by Nicole Perlman (Guardians of the Galaxy) and David Chasteen (CIA), with production handled by Berry and her producing partner Holly Jeter through their company HalleHolly.
Joe Roth and Jeff Kirschenbaum’s RK Films are also producing, alongside Clinton and Patterson, who previously saw the novel top The New York Times bestseller list following its 2018 release.
The President Is Missing is just one piece of a rapidly expanding slate for Halle Berry, who has been increasingly active behind the scenes as both a producer and creative driver.
HalleHolly, launched in 2022, was founded to center complex, often underrepresented characters across film and television.
Beyond her film tenure as POTUS, Berry is involved in a wide range of projects across genres.
On the television side, she is set to star in Zero F*cks, a menopause-themed comedy in development at Peacock. The series follows three middle-aged friends navigating life’s second act while unexpectedly investigating the death of a woman they didn’t even like.
Berry is also attached to HBO’s psychological horror series The Patient, based on Jasper DeWitt’s viral novella. In the show, she plays Josephine Todd, a notoriously difficult psychiatric patient whose treatment begins to unravel the sanity of the doctor attempting to help her.
On the film side, Berry is lined up for projects ranging from the action comedy Bad Cop, Bad Cop to thrillers like Sunburn and Parole Officer.