TV Article Robert Redford plans ''Candidate'' sequel Robert Redford plans ''Candidate'' sequel. He'd play the same character he played in the Oscar-winning 1972 film, three decades later By Gary Susman Gary Susman Gary is a Senior Writer for EW EW's editorial guidelines Published on October 24, 2002 04:00AM EDT At the end of the classic 1972 political satire ”The Candidate,” having won an upset victory for U.S. Senator from California, the once-idealistic young candidate played by Robert Redford asks, ”What do we do now?” Thirty years later, we’ll find out. Variety reports that Redford is planning to direct a sequel, where he’ll play an older Senator Bill McKay. Writing the sequel will be veteran comedy scriptwriter Larry Gelbart (”Tootsie,” TV’s ”M*A*S*H”). The 1972 movie won a Best Original Screenplay Oscar for Jeremy Larner, a former speechwriter for 1968 presidential candidate Sen. Eugene McCarthy. It was seen then as a slightly over-the-top cautionary tale of how even a naive idealist can be compromised and consumed by the media attention and ego-gratifying power that come with a run for office; now, it looks like a prescient warning about how campaigns have become more about image and spin than issues. No word on whether the latter-day McKay will have become a disillusioned cynic or, like the politically-minded star himself, still something of an idealistic firebrand.