With the nation preparing to mark the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, Angel Studios and Wonder Project are bringing audiences a sweeping, big-screen origin story unlike any other. In this exclusive AMFM Magazine conversation, screenwriter Diederik Hoogstraten reveals how he and collaborators Jon Erwin and Tom Provost humanized the iconic George Washington during his most turbulent and formative years — from a teenager navigating unrequited love and personal loss to a young leader tested by frontier war. Packed with action, heartfelt character development, and a powerful message of resilience and shared purpose, Young Washington is built for the biggest screens and the widest possible audience this July 4th weekend.
Interview By Paul Salfen, Text by Christine Thompson for AMFM Magazine
There are few figures in American history more mythologized — and less intimately known — than George Washington in his youth. While libraries overflow with biographies of the general and president, the chapters covering his childhood and early manhood remain surprisingly thin. That scarcity became an opportunity for screenwriter Diederik Hoogstraten, who co-wrote Young Washington with Tom Provost and director Jon Erwin.
Set in the 1740s and 1750s — decades before the Declaration of Independence — the film follows a teenage and young-adult Washington through the messy, violent, and formative experiences that would shape the man who helped birth a nation. It arrives in theaters nationwide over Independence Day weekend 2026, perfectly timed for the 250th anniversary of American independence.
Filling the Blanks with Truth and Imagination Hoogstraten is quick to acknowledge the challenge and the gift of limited source material. “The biographies could fill several libraries,” he told AMFM, “but there’s just always a shorter chapter about his childhood and early years. Washington was a private, deeply private person.”
Rather than invent wholesale, the team anchored the story in the known facts and then leaned into emotional and dramatic truth. “That allowed us to take a lot of creative freedom to fill in the blanks,” Hoogstraten said, “to imagine what life would have been like for George.” The result is a portrait that treats Washington not as a marble statue, but as a real young man wrestling with the same questions many of us still ask: Why is this happening? What am I supposed to do?
A Magnetic Lead and a Cast of Mentors Central to bringing that young man to life is William Franklyn-Miller, whose performance Hoogstraten praises without hesitation. “He’s tall, like Washington was. He’s extremely good looking. He’s kind of magnetic on the screen,” he said. “I’m extremely proud of the way Will portrays Washington… I do think William is on his way to stardom.”
Equally important is the ensemble surrounding him. In what Hoogstraten calls “a stroke of genius,” Jon Erwin cast Oscar winner Ben Kingsley, Golden Globe winners Kelsey Grammer and Mary-Louise Parker, Golden Globe nominee Andy Serkis, and Joel Smallbone in key supporting roles. These actors don’t simply appear — they function as mentors on screen, guiding, correcting, and challenging the young protagonist in ways that feel organic and earned.
Built for the Big Screen and Shared Experience Hoogstraten is passionate that Young Washington belongs in theaters, not on laptops. “This movie is really, really meant to be enjoyed on a massive screen with a lot of other people,” he said. “We want people to share this experience… It’s a story that is for all of us.”
He hopes families will gather over the July 4th weekend, popcorn in hand, to witness something rare: a historical epic that is violent and beautiful, funny and heartbreaking, and ultimately hopeful. “It’s messy. It’s violent at times, but it’s also beautiful. It’s funny. It’s real.”
A Crush That Could Have Changed Everything One of the film’s most intriguing threads is a historically grounded romantic element. Young George had a genuine crush on a girl named Sally. It didn’t work out — and that, Van Hoogstraten notes, may have quietly altered the course of history. Had the relationship led to marriage, Washington might have been absorbed into the British colonial elite he once aspired to join. Instead, a different path unfolded.
From Journalist to Screenwriter — A Personal “Hail Mary” Hoogstraten’s own journey mirrors the themes of the film in unexpected ways. Born in the Netherlands, he built a career as a journalist in New York and Los Angeles before becoming a U.S. citizen. After moving to Texas with his wife, he transitioned into screenwriting. Being asked to collaborate with Jon Erwin on Young Washington felt like a once-in-a-lifetime moment he chose to fully embrace. He brought in his longtime mentor and friend Tom Provost, and the three formed what he describes as a strong creative team.
The Pain and the Point When asked what advice he would offer aspiring writers and storytellers, Hoogstraten was refreshingly honest. Writing, he said, is often lonely and difficult. It should come from deep passion rather than romantic fantasy. He sees the same truth reflected in Washington’s story: growth rarely arrives without struggle.
“This film ends when he’s 23 years old,” Hoogstraten reflected. “He becomes sort of a leader who serves his men. That’s a remarkable achievement. But it only can come to be that way because of what he goes through. So, in other words, the pain and the struggle is kind of the point in order to set him up.”
A Story We Can All Agree On Perhaps most moving is Hoogstraten’s hope for what audiences will carry away. He wants viewers to feel a renewed sense of shared purpose as Americans — not through nostalgia, but through honest appreciation of the people who helped build the country “with his own two hands… in the mud.”
“It’s all of our history,” he said. “He is all of ours, if you will, and maybe we can feel a little bit more connected again.”
On matters of faith, the film takes a measured, authentic approach. Because little is documented about young Washington’s personal beliefs, the story lets his devout mother serve as the quiet voice of faith and providence — present, but never forced. The result is a film Hoogstraten believes can be embraced by people of any background or belief system.
See It Together Young Washington is more than a history lesson. It is a cinematic invitation to sit with the messy, resilient, and deeply human beginnings of one of America’s most enduring figures — and perhaps to recognize a little of ourselves in the process.
This July 4th weekend, AMFM Magazine encourages readers to experience it the way it was meant to be seen: on the biggest screen possible, surrounded by fellow Americans, with popcorn in hand and an open heart.
About the Film Angel Studios and Wonder Project present YOUNG WASHINGTON A film by Jon Erwin Starring William Franklyn-Miller, Mary-Louise Parker, with Kelsey Grammer, with Andy Serkis and Ben Kingsley, and Joel Smallbone Written by Diederik Hoogstraten & Tom Provost and Jon Erwin Directed by Jon Erwin
Synopsis: Before he was the Father of a Nation, he was a soldier fighting to survive. A single misstep thrusts young George Washington into the center of a global conflict, testing his honor, loyalty, and courage. This is the untold story of Young Washington.
