A new term and office for ‘Candidate’

Three decades after Robert Redford’s character Bill McKay won a seat in the U.S. Senate and pleaded, “Now what?” Warner Bros. says it will make a sequel to the 1972 film “The Candidate.”

Redford, 65, will produce and direct the sequel, as well as star as McKay, now an experienced senator running for president.

But Larry Gelbart, who will write the sequel, said McKay will not be “used” to promote either his or Redford’s activism on behalf of Democrats or environmentalists. “We’re not looking at it as a platform for espousing our common political ideology,” Gelbart said Thursday. The original screenplay was written by Jeremy Larner.

Gelbart said they hope to begin filming next fall or winter, although as of this week they only have a “basis of a script” that will focus on legislation, politics and personal growth. The screenplay will also touch on power and all its trappings.

“Probably the only president who didn’t have any sex appeal was Woodrow Wilson after he had his stroke. That office does make women swoon, some men too. Age is no handicap. It’s the office that’s such an aphrodisiac,” Gelbart said. “This movie is not about being sexy. It’s about the sexiness of politics. There are opportunities to introduce the element of sex and the sexual appeal of a president, but it won’t be a major part of this motion picture.”

Warner Bros. says the film will be produced through Wildwood Enterprises, Redford’s production company that has a development deal with the studio.