All the Way
Television release poster
Based on	All the Way byRobert Schenkkan
Written by	Robert Schenkkan
Directed by	Jay Roach
Starring	Bryan Cranston Anthony Mackie Melissa Leo Frank Langella
Music by	James Newton Howard
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
Production
Executive producers	Steven Spielberg Robert Schenkkan Bryan Cranston Jay Roach Darryl Frank Justin Falvey
Producers	Scott Ferguson Jeffrey Richards
Cinematography	Jim Denault
Editor	Carol Littleton
Running time	132 minutes
Production companies	HBO Films Amblin Television Moon Shot Entertainment Tale Told Productions Everyman Pictures
Original release
Network	HBO
Release	May 21, 2016 (2016-05-21)

All the Way is a 2016 Americanbiographicaldramatelevision film based on events duringthe presidency ofLyndon B. Johnson. Directed byJay Roach and adapted byRobert Schenkkan from his2012 playAll the Way, the film starsBryan Cranston, who reprises his role as Johnson from the play's 2014 Broadway production, oppositeMelissa Leo asFirst LadyLady Bird Johnson;Anthony Mackie asCivil Rights Movement leaderMartin Luther King Jr.; andFrank Langella asU.S. SenatorRichard Russell Jr. from Georgia.^[1]

The film was broadcast onHBO on Saturday, May 21, 2016.^[2] The film has received positive reviews, with praise for Cranston's performance. It has been nominated for aTelevision Critics Association Award forOutstanding Achievement in Movies, Miniseries and Specials, with Cranston also nominated forIndividual Achievement in Drama for his work on the film. It was nominated for eightPrimetime Emmy Awards, includingOutstanding Television Movie as well as acting nominations for Cranston and Leo.^[3]

In 1963,Lyndon B. Johnson becomesPresident of the United States after theJohn F. Kennedy assassination, assisted and advised by his wifeLady Bird. Johnson enters theWhite House but soon must work on the passage of theCivil Rights Act.Martin Luther King Jr. pressures Johnson to pass the bill withoutamendments that would weaken it;Southern Democrats such asRichard Russell Jr. ofGeorgia oppose the bill so much that they may abandon theDemocratic Party if the bill passes, andRepublicans and Democrats on the fence offer amendments opposed by the liberals and the Civil Rights activists. At the same time, Johnson wants to declare awar on poverty. TheGulf of Tonkin incident causes Johnson to askCongress fora resolution endorsing a reprisal againstNorth Vietnam, wary of being outflanked on the issue by the Republicans.

After successful passage of the Civil Rights Act over a filibuster, Johnson contends for election againstBarry Goldwater in the1964 presidential election. This is complicated by theFreedom Summer movement and pulls between the northern liberal wing and Southern Dixiecrat wing of the Democratic Party. Johnson assignsJ. Edgar Hoover to investigate themurders of Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner inMississippi. The state of Mississippi also sends two delegations to theDemocratic National Convention in Atlantic City: the "normal" delegation from theDixiecrat wing, which threatened to walk out on Johnson, and theMississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP), a renegade wing supported by the Civil Rights Movement, but vehemently opposed by other Southerners. Johnson, in a bid to save the South, offers the MFDP a compromise that satisfies neither side; the Mississippi delegation walks out, and the MFDP is unhappy with the two at-large delegates offered to them.

Johnson hits Goldwater hard in the election, portraying him as a dangerous fanatic who will destroy the world, but is worried. Johnson's aide and friendWalter Jenkins is arrested for "disorderly conduct" after he is found having sex with another man in a public restroom; Johnson has an uncomfortable conversation with Hoover on how this fact slipped by security screening. Martin Luther King wins theNobel Peace Prize; Hoover, still distrusting King, sends himan insulting, anonymous letter demanding King commit suicide, which is ignored. Johnson wins the election conclusively, but the Democratic Party loses the states of the Deep South. After a phone call with Russell, Johnson ends with a monologue expressing intense paranoia towards those around him.

On July 16, 2014, it was announced thatHBO Films had acquired the rights to the playAll the Way with Robert Schenkkan writing the adaptation and Bryan Cranston reprising his role asLyndon B. Johnson.^[4] Schenkkan and producerSteven Spielberg agreed that the adaptation would differ significantly from the play. Schenkkan says, "When Steven, Bryan Cranston and I brought this to HBO, what I said at the time was, 'Look, I have no interest in just shooting the play. What I want to do is a complete cinematic reimagining of this story.' Everybody was on board for that. It's obviously recognizably the same story with many – but not all – of the same characters. I took a really hard look at how I could best tell this story on screen now that I had all the things that cinema brings that I did not have in my toolkit when I was working on stage."^[5]

On March 7, 2015, it was announced thatJay Roach would direct the film.^[6] On June 30, 2015,Anthony Mackie was cast asMartin Luther King Jr.^[7] On July 2, 2015,Melissa Leo was cast asLady Bird Johnson.^[8] On July 8, 2015,Stephen Root andMarque Richardson were cast asJ. Edgar Hoover andBob Moses, respectively.^[9] On July 23, 2015,Bradley Whitford was cast asHubert Humphrey.^[10] On July 23, 2015,Aisha Hinds,Spencer Garrett, Todd Weeks, andMo McRae were cast asFannie Lou Hamer,Walter Reuther,Walter Jenkins, andStokely Carmichael, respectively.^[11] On July 28, 2015,Frank Langella was cast asRichard Russell Jr.^[12] On September 18, 2015, Bruce Nozick was cast asStanley Levison.^[13] On September 29, 2015, Ned Van Zandt was cast asJ. William Fulbright.^[14]

Filming began on August 13, 2015,^[15] and took place inLos Angeles.^[16]

All the Way received positive reviews from critics. Thereview aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes gave the film an approval rating of 87%, based on 46 reviews, with an average rating of 7.9/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Anchored by Bryan Cranston's phenomenal performance as LBJ,All the Way is an engrossing portrayal of a complicated man during a pivotal moment in US history."^[17] OnMetacritic the film has a score of 78 out of 100, based on 27 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.^[18]

All the Way drew approximately 1.11 million total viewers and a 0.2 rating among adults 18–49, making it the second most watched (at the time it aired) HBO original movie behind 2015'sBessie.^[19]

• 1956 Sugar Bowl
• Civil rights movement
• Civil rights movement in popular culture

• All the Way atIMDb

• 2016 television films
• 2016 films
• 2016 biographical drama films
• 2016 in American television
• 2010s American films
• 2010s English-language films
• 2010s historical drama films
• 2010s political drama films
• American films based on plays
• American biographical drama films
• American biographical television films
• American drama television films
• American political drama films
• Civil rights movement in film
• Civil rights movement in television
• Cultural depictions of J. Edgar Hoover
• Drama films based on actual events
• English-language biographical drama films
• English-language historical drama films
• Films about Lyndon B. Johnson
• Films about Martin Luther King Jr.
• Films directed by Jay Roach
• Films scored by James Newton Howard
• Films set in the 1960s
• Films set in Washington, D.C.
• Films shot in Los Angeles
• Films with screenplays by Robert Schenkkan
• HBO Films films
• Political films based on actual events
• Television films based on plays
• Vietnam War films based on actual events

• All articles with dead external links
• Articles with dead external links from August 2023
• Articles with permanently dead external links
• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Use mdy dates from April 2025