Bad Education Trailer: Hugh Jackman is a Seedy School Super in HBO Movie

Bad Education is an upcoming movie that has headliner Hugh Jackman showcasing his range with yet another comedic and intriguingly uncharacteristic performance. However, said film won’t be seen at a theater near you – it’s heading to HBO!

The film, despite its tongue-in-cheek presentation, is actually a fact-based affair. Jackman stars as Frank Tassone, a school superintendent who, upon discovery of his malfeasance in 2002, plunged his Long Island district in a notorious embezzlement scandal.  

Cory Finley directed the film, coming off his 2017 feature debut, the crime thriller, Thoroughbreds. He worked here off a screenplay by Mike Makowsky (I Think We’re Alone Now, Take Me).

Bad Education Trailer

A new trailer has arrived for HBO’s Bad Education, further previewing Jackman’s depiction as Frank Tassone as a beloved and seemingly-driven school super who, by all visible accounts, has his district on an upward trajectory. However, in what’s now a classic scenario, a curious number-cruncher serendipitously discovers that Frank is a bit of an artful dodger, and has been behind the siphoning of serious funds meant for education, leading to a most epic unraveling.

Bad Education Release Date

Bad Education premieres on HBO on Saturday, April 25.

The film debuted on September 9, 2019 at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Bad Education Details

As the official Bad Eduction logline reads:

“Based on a true story, a student reporter starts to trace embezzlement at the Roslyn School District, in Long Island after the assistant superintendent makes a crucial mistake that hints at corruption that spans over a decade. Dr. Frank Tassone, played by Hugh Jackman serves as the superintendent of the district that he led to be the fourth best in the country. He’s forced to deal with the fallout of this scandal and attempts to protect others— and himself.”

The real-life situation on which Bad Education is based saw Roslyn, Long Island school district superintendent Tassone implicated in an embezzlement scandal after his assistant, Pam Gluckin (played in the film by Allison Janney), was caught writing checks totaling $250,000 to pay off her credit card bills. A floodgate was opened from there, revealing an elaborate operation – one apparently rooted in personal desperation – in which Tassone had stolen around $8 million from his district over the course of twelve years.

Aussie A-lister Jackman is joined in the Bad Education cast by names such as Allison Janney (Bombshell, Mom), Ray Romano (Get Shorty, Everybody Loves Raymond), Geraldine Viswanathan (Miracle Workers, Blockers), Pat Healy (Station 19, Hap and Leonard) and Kathrine Narducci (The Irishman, Godfather of Harlem).

Having left behind his adamantium claws from his legendary near-two-decade turn as Wolverine in Fox’s X-Men films, the Aussie star achieved acclaim playing P.T Barnum in the December 2017 movie musical, The Greatest Showman, and has since tackled a lower key project in 2018 fact-based political figure film The Front Runner.

Joseph Baxter is a contributor for Den of Geek and Syfy Wire. You can find his work here. Follow him on Twitter @josbaxter.