Anita Bryant Biopic Planned by HBO

HBO is developing a biopic of antigay activist Anita Bryant that will be directed by gay Sex and the City creator Darren Star.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the as-yet untitled film is being written by Runaway creator Chad Hodge. It will be executive produced by Star and Dennis Erdman.

Bryant, born in Oklahoma in 1940, was a beauty queen and a best-selling pop star before returning to her Christian roots in the 1970s. She became an antigay activist in 1977, when she launched the successful effort to repeal an antidiscrimination ordinance in Miami-Dade County. She also tried and failed in 1978 to pass the Briggs Initiative, which sought to fire gay teachers in California. The campaign is covered in the 2008 film Milk.

In turn, the gay rights movement boycotted Bryant, which prompted the end of her pitch contract with the Florida Citrus Commission and the decline of her career.

According to the Reporter, Hodge wants to speak with Bryant about the project in order to generate "a nuanced portrayal of her and 'what drove her to do the things that she did.'"

Bryant was struck in the face with a pie by a gay activist in Des Moines in 1977. Watch the video below.