19-Year Wait for ‘Reagan’ Exposes Conservative Cowardice in Cultural Defense

Conservatives, like France during World War II, surrendered to the impending left cultural blitzkrieg in Hollywood. Hoping to pick up crumbs from the victors and eek out an existence on the ideological sidelines, conservatives outside the movie industry have complained about Hollywood but taken no meaningful action against its malign influence.

The struggle to counter this trend falls on independent producers who risk everything to expose audiences to viewpoints not rubber-stamped by California cultural overlords.

Harold Fickett, writing in the Daily Signal, reviews Mark Joseph’s book “Making Reagan.” The work reveals how difficult it is for conservative perspectives to be represented in mainstream cinema. And at the risk of appearing conflicted, our columnists assert that the book is as good as its intended film adaptation.

Joseph aimed to fill a cultural void deliberately left by Hollywood’s groupthink. In many ways, Ronald Reagan was an obvious biopic subject—alongside Pope John Paul II, he helped bring down the Soviet Union. Yet in 2005, when Joseph began his project, no major film on Reagan existed. Hollywood’s leftward tilt and the cultural incompetence of the right shared the blame.

The accepted wisdom in movieland was that Reagan was unworthy of remembrance. Critics dismissed him as a cheerful B-movie actor spouting conservative clichés—a man who also starred in a movie with a monkey.

Joseph, after reading Paul Kengor’s “The Crusader: Ronald Reagan and the Fall of Communism,” became convinced Reagan deserved a film. He acquired the rights and embarked on a 19-year odyssey to transform the book into a movie.

For 15 years, Joseph endured false starts, rewrites, and betrayals. Nicolas Cage agreed to play Reagan after meeting Joseph but later withdrew. Funding proved equally challenging; Joseph rejected financiers who demanded creative control, fearing Hollywood would compromise Reagan’s story.

Joseph’s phone did not ring off the hook with calls from “conservative” benefactors eager to invest in his project.

By 2020, exhausted by waiting, Joseph launched the film with only partial funding. His one advantage was Dennis Quaid agreeing to star as Reagan. He moved operations to Guthrie, Oklahoma, and began filming.

The gamble paid off handsomely. The film debuted in 2024 to critical acclaim, earning a 98% audience approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes and $30.1 million at the box office—reaching No. 1 both in theaters and later on DVD charts.

Left-wing critics attempted to drag the film down with an unfavorable rating of 18%, but the public ignored them.

While the story of “Reagan” has a happy ending, the battle against Hollywood’s corrosive influence continues. Fickett concludes: “If we are ever to rebuild a healthy culture, it cannot take 19 years to make a movie about Ronald Reagan. Conservatives’ unwillingness to support the arts is not caution but cowardice. Without investment in culture, their ideals may vanish.”

By Michael Reagan with Michael R. Shannon
Tuesday, 16 December 2025 05:03 PM EST

Michael Reagan, the eldest son of President Ronald Reagan, is a syndicated columnist and author who chairs The Reagan Legacy Foundation. He is an in-demand speaker.

Michael R. Shannon is a commentator, researcher for the League of American Voters, and an award-winning political and advertising consultant with nationwide and international experience. He is the author of “Conservative Christian’s Guidebook for Living in Secular Times (Now with Added Humor!).”