Denis Leary, Laura Dern also cast in HBO movie

Oscar winner Kevin Spacey will head a high-wattage cast in HBO's movie "Recount," about the fight over Florida's electoral votes in the 2000 election.

The movie, scheduled to premiere next year, will also star Denis Leary, Laura Dern, Bob Balaban, Tom Wilkinson, Ed Begley Jr. and John Hurt. Production will begin soon in Florida, the showbiz trade papers report.

Jay Roach ("Meet the Parents") is directing the movie, which was written by actor Danny Strong ("Gilmore Girls"). It will chronicle five weeks between the Nov. 7, 2000, presidential election between George W. Bush and Al Gore and the December Supreme Court ruling that upheld Florida's count and gave Bush the White House.

Spacey ("American Beauty," "Superman Returns"), whose Trigger Street Productions is also a producer of the film, will play Ron Klain, who spearheaded the recount effort in Florida for the Gore team. Wilkinson, who co-stars in HBO's upcoming miniseries "John Adams," is set to play former Secretary of State James Baker, who led the Bush legal team.

The cast also includes "Rescue Me" star Leary as Gore man Michael Whouley; Dern ("Inland Empire") as Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris; Begley as lawyer David Boies, who argued Gore's case before the Supreme Court; Hurt ("V for Vendetta") as former Secretary of State Warren Christopher; and Balaban as Benjamin Ginsberg, the chief counsel for the Bush campaign.

Sydney Pollack is among the executive producers. He was initially tapped to direct "Recount" but had to withdraw for health reasons, opening the door for Roach.