CBS begins production on Hitler project

CBS has started production in Prague, Czech Republic, on its controversial
miniseries on the youth of Adolf Hitler, Hitler: Origins of Evil.

The star-studded cast includes Robert Carlyle (The Full Monty,
Angela's Ashes) as Hitler and Emmy Award-winner Stockard Channing (The
West Wing
, The Matthew Shepard Story) as Hitler's mother.

Seven-time Oscar nominee Peter O'Toole plays Paul Von Hindenberg, the German
president who appointed Hitler chancellor in 1933.

Jena Malone, Matthew Modine, Julianna Margulies, Liev Schreiber and Peter
Stormare also star.

The miniseries will chronicle Hitler's youth and his rise to power. It is
based on the book Hitler, 1899-1936: Hubris by Ian Kershaw.

To assuage Jewish leaders who are concerned that the project will turn Hitler
into a sympathetic character, CBS plans a charitable donation, although the
amount and the organization have not been determined.

No airdate for the project has been set.

Alliance Atlantis Communications Inc. will produce with Peter Sussman and Ed
Gernon executive-producing. Christian Duguay will co-executive-produce and
direct.

Paige Albiniak

Contributing editor Paige Albiniak has been covering the business of television for more than 25 years. She is a longtime contributor to Next TV, Broadcasting + Cable and Multichannel News. She concurrently serves as editorial director for The Global Entertainment Marketing Academy of Arts & Sciences (G.E.M.A.). She has written for such publications as TVNewsCheck, The New York Post, Variety, CBS Watch and more. Albiniak was B+C’s Los Angeles bureau chief from September 2002 to 2004, and an associate editor covering Congress and lobbying for the magazine in Washington, D.C., from January 1997 - September 2002.