Fox TV Studios won't produce Hillary Clinton miniseries -- UPDATED

UPDATED: Fox TV Studios won’t produce a much-buzzed about miniseries on Hillary Clinton, EW has confirmed. The four-hour miniseries, which stars Diane Lane, was first announced by NBC at the annual Television Critics Association press tour in July. The Hollywood Reporter first reported the news.

Threats from the Republican National Committee to ban NBC from hosting the 2016 primary debates on the basis of potential bias slowed interest in the miniseries and sparked debate in NBC’s news division, but the THR report cites deal negotiations as more of a factor than politics.

The RNC did vote Friday to ban both NBC and CNN (which is planning a feature-length documentary about the former First Lady) from hosting the debates if those planned specials move forward. The primary debates typically boost ratings for the major networks. Today, NBC Chairman Bob Greenblatt released a statement on the issue, saying, “The Hillary Clinton movie has not been ordered to production, only a script is being written at this time. It is ‘in development,’ the first stage of any television series or movie, many of which never go to production. Speculation, demands, and declarations pertaining to something that isn’t created or produced yet seem premature.”

Oscar-nominee Courtney Hunt (Frozen River) is set to write the miniseries, which recounts Clinton’s life as a wife, mother, politician, and cabinet member from 1998 to the present. The script begins with Clinton living in the White House while her husband serves the second of his two terms as president. Just a reminder: Clinton has not yet declared her expected 2016 candidacy.