Writer turned director Aaron Sorkin has attached himself to helm Steven Spielberg’s long-gestating political drama ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’.
Sacha Baron Cohen is also being linked to the feature as it is said the Borat star has entered into early negotiations to join the cast.
Based on the documentary by Brett Morgan called ‘Chicago 10’, the film is based on the infamous 1969 trial of seven defendants charged by the federal government with conspiracy and more, arising from the countercultural protests in Chicago at the 1968 Democratic National Convention. The trial transfixed the nation and sparked a conversation about mayhem intended to undermine the U.S. government.
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Sorkin had originally written the script for the film which originally had Spielberg down to direct. Due to a writers strike the project had to be shelved as Spielberg had other avenues to pursue.
In 2013, Spielberg tried to resurrect the picture employing the services of Paul Greengrass to take the helm but money played a big stumbling block when they couldn’t agree on a budget putting the picture back into purgatory.
Finally, with Sorkin flexing his directing chops with ‘Mollys Game’ – which starred Jessica Chastain and Idris Elba – Spielberg knew he was the right man to take the project forward.
Previously stars such as Will Smith and Ben Stiller had been attached to star. The aim to fill the cast with an A-List ensemble is still very much on the cards. Cohen was always favoured by Spielberg to play the role of activist Abbie Hoffman and it’s looking like Sorkin thinks the same.
Cohen is currently filming the Netflix series ‘The Spy’.
