Mike Makowsky on ‘Death by Lightning,’ and why James Garfield’s assassination still plays like dark theater

“Death by Lightning” has found an audience not just through its historical subject, but through its tone, according to Mike Makowsky in a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter published Monday, Aug. 18, 2026. Makowsky spoke about what drew him to a story that sits at the intersection of presidential history and theatrical storytelling, focusing on the violent event that followed James Garfield’s assassination and the political handoffs that came with it.

Makowsky’s comments center on adapting the story of Garfield, the assassin Charles Guiteau, and the leadership change that elevated Chester A. Arthur after the attack. Rather than treating the succession as a straightforward page of dates, he described an approach that emphasizes the strange, tightly interlocked circumstances surrounding one of the nation’s most disruptive presidential transitions.

The interview characterizes the project as one that leans into “dark comedy” while still rooted in real events. That balance, Makowsky suggested, is part of what makes the material feel unexpectedly suited to a Shakespearean sensibility, with power shifting under pressure and the personal consequences of violence cascading into the public sphere.

For viewers and readers, the adaptation highlights a period when the country’s institutional structures faced immediate strain, as the nation coped with a major act of political violence and the questions that followed about succession and legitimacy. By foregrounding the human scale of the courtroom and the public drama, the adaptation aims to make the history legible without turning it into mere spectacle.

The Hollywood Reporter interview also situates the project in a broader cultural conversation about how America remembers its political catastrophes. Makowsky’s framing suggests that comedy, when used carefully, can operate as a narrative tool for examining systems and social behavior under stress, including how the public and the powerful respond in real time to shocks.

Makowsky’s adaptation work, as described in the interview, reflects the challenge of turning a relatively less widely known account into a story with clear dramatic momentum. The project’s premise, built around the three named historical figures, depends on audiences understanding that presidential succession is not only a constitutional mechanism, but also a moment where individuals and institutions make consequential choices.

At this point, the reporting centers on Makowsky’s creative decisions and the interview’s discussion of tone and adaptation. With additional release details not established in the provided record, readers will need to refer to follow-up announcements from the production and distribution sides of the project for casting, format, and premiere timing.