Dustin Hoffman his seventh Academy Award nomination for his performance in "Wag The Dog" (1997), in a role that allowed Hoffman the chance to work with both Robert De Niro and Denis Leary. The movie is a black comedy film produced and directed by Barry Levinson, who also directed Hoffman in "Rain Man" in 1988. The story takes place a few days before a presidential election, where a Washington, D.C. spin doctor (De Niro) distracts the electorate from a sex scandal by hiring a Hollywood film producer (Hoffman) to construct a fake war with Albania. Hoffman, as a caricature of real life
Hoffman (film) "Call Me Daddy" aired, written by Ernest Gebler, directed by Alvin Rakoff and starring Donald Pleasence and Judy Cornwell. It was well received and won an international Emmy.Gebler turned the story into a novel, "Shall I Eat You Now?", published the following year. Producer Ben Arbeid optioned the screen rights to the novel and hired Gebler to write the script for a fee of ₤21,000. The film was one of the first greenlit by Bryan Forbes while he was head of EMI Films. Reportedly, Sellers despised "Hoffman" because the lead character too closely reflected his own personality. According to Bryan