A Friend of Crescat writes in with reliable hearsay about the All The King's Men movie mentioned below (in fact this Friend of Crescat tipped me off about the ATKM sequel sometime ago, I had simply forgotten):

Steve Zaillian is directing from his screenplay. It's likely that he went straight back to the book, as that's his forte. Though Zaillian has written many screenplays (notably Schindler's List, for which he won the Oscar, and Awakenings, for which he was nominated) and ghosted on a few other projects (listen for the reference to "Dr. Zaillian" in the last scene of Patriot Games), it's only his third time directing (after Searching For Bobby Fisher and A Civil Action; is he making movies for Pejman?) Most of the cast have worked on other Zaillian-penned adaptations: Penn co-starred in The Falcon and the Snowman; Hopkins in Hannibal, etc.

James Carville was contacted as an expert on all things Louisiana and political. He and Zaillian hit it off, so Carville is now a co-producer. While press reports have Carville denying a cameo, I would not be shocked to see one.

Also, Meryl Streep lobbied for and got the role (Sadie, iirc) that got Mercedes McCambridge an Oscar nomination, but reportedly left because she concluded the role was too small. Patricia Clarkson has signed on to replace Streep. And though I also have qualms about Jude Law, the word from Louisiana is that he's great to work with.