Sorkin to direct John Edwards bio-pic

LOS ANGELES, July 16 (UPI) -- Aaron Sorkin is to write, direct and produce a film about U.S. Sen. John Edwards and the sex scandal that ruined his career.

Sorkin is best known for creating the celebrated TV political drama "The West Wing."

His film adaptation of Andrew Young's "The Politician: An Insider's Account of John Edwards' Pursuit of the Presidency and the Scandal That Brought Him Down" will mark his feature-film directorial debut, Variety reported Friday.

Young, Edwards' long-term aide, made headlines during the 2008 presidential primary when he claimed he had an affair with Edwards' mistress Rielle Hunter and fathered her child. Young later admitted he lied about the relationship to cover for the married Edwards, whose wife Elizabeth was suffering from cancer. Edwards eventually took responsibility for the affair and acknowledged the daughter it produced. He and his wife separated shortly after.

"This is a first-hand account of an extraordinary story filled with motivations, decisions and consequences that would have lit Shakespeare up," Variety quoted Sorkin as saying. "There's much more to Andrew's book than what has been reported and I'm grateful that he's trusting me with it."