'The Comey Rule' Teaser: See Brendan Gleeson As Donald Trump And Jeff Daniels As Former FBI Director James Comey

Writer/director Billy Ray (Shattered Glass, Richard Jewell) is accustomed to repurposing real-life events into compelling entertainment. He's hoping to do the same thing with The Comey Rule, an adaptation of former FBI director James Comey's book that stars Brendan Gleeson (In Bruges) as President Donald Trump and Jeff Daniels (The Newsroom) as Comey himself.

Plot details, new images and the first teaser trailer for the two-part Showtime project have arrived, and you can check those out below.

Vanity Fair debuted this new look at The Comey Rule, along with several photos and tons of quotes from creator Billy Ray and star Jeff Daniels. Based on Comey's book A Higher Loyalty, the series portrays the FBI director as a by-the-book public servant who ends up in a contentious relationship with Trump thanks to his investigation into Russian interference in the presidential election.

You can see more photos at the link above.

Ray is well aware that Comey is a divisive figure, even among some on the political left who decried his reopening of the investigation into Hillary Clinton's emails just days before the 2016 presidential election – something many people point to as a reason why she lost the presidency. "I recognize that there is something for everyone to hate in this movie," he said. For those who were wondering what the heck Comey was thinking when he reopened that investigation, that's a huge part of what this two-part project focuses on:

"We will show you what he was thinking, moment to moment. One of the options, to do nothing, is a decision, but it's not an option for him. As a dramatic character, basic story structure, you want to put your hero between a rock and a hard place, write the hero into a corner, and then he has to overcome the obstacles to come out of it, one way or another. And Comey, what he went through was a rock and hard place."

Will conservative audiences tune in to see their beloved leader depicted as a force of chaos who values loyalty above almost all else? Will liberal audiences be so disgusted by Comey's impact on the election that they won't seek this mini-series out? At least Ray knows that history will look back on Comey's decisions with a critical eye. "The truth is that director Comey, who is a brilliant man, really did underestimate [how poisonous the political atmosphere was at the time]. I think he truly believed that his decency was going to carry the day. And he was very wrong."

The Comey Rule airs on Showtime over two nights, starting on September 27, 2020.