Meryl Streep to play Iron Mag(gie Thatcher)

Meryl Streep is in negotiations to play former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in an upcoming biopic.

According to THR, Streep is gearing up to re-team with her Mamma Mia director Phyllida Lloyd for ‘Thatcher’. Jim Broadbent is also in talks to play Thatcher’s husband David Denis.

Brian Fillis’ screenplay supposedly takes place in 1982. As THR state:

“[The film] tracks Thatcher as she tries to save her career in the 17 days preceding the 1982 Falklands War. The 2 1/2-month war was a turning point for the prime minister who, after the victory, saw her approval ratings double and went on to win a second term.”

Streep and Broadbent are no slouches, so chalk up the Oscar nominations immediately. I suspect a project such as this could be as riveting as Stephen Frears‘ The Queen (which made sympathetic a similarly controversial figure).

But Lloyd – a theater director who struck big with mega hit Mamma Mia – seems like an inappropriate fit for this project.

That is, unless we see Streep’s Maggie giving a rousing rendition of Fernando. More news as it comes.

Discuss: Streep as Thatcher. Does it work for you?