Steven Spielberg Dumps 'Chicago 7?'
Filed under: Documentary, Drama, RumorMonger, Steven Spielberg
There are two reasons I find this (as yet unconfirmed) story interesting. One is that I'll soon be writing my review of Brett Morgen's new documentary Chicago 10, which comes out next week. The other is that I've been thinking about the 2009 Oscars (I like to jump ahead), which I presumed would include a number of nominations for Steven Spielberg's next film. For a few months now, we've believed that film would be, like Morgen's, about the trial of the "Chicago 7" and would be fittingly titled The Trial of the Chicago 7. First we heard the director was interested in the script, written by Charlie Wilson's War scribe Aaron Sorkin. Then we got that crazy news that Sacha Baron Cohen would play Abbie Hoffman. Finally we heard more people, specifically Colin Hanks, Jeff Daniels and Philip Seymour Hoffman, were joining the cast. However, now we have word from Collider that Spielberg "has decided to move on and will not be making the movie."
Note: It has since come out that the film has been delayed, not completely dumped.
Like "Frosty" at Collider, I am glad about this may-be-true turn of events. And I too hope that Spielberg finally locks down on that Abe Lincoln film (Lincoln), especially now that Frosty has pointed out the significance of next year (unfortunately a February release is bad for Oscar dreams). Comparatively, the Chicago 7 movie has little significance or relevance to anything. I could see where someone might want to try to parallel the trial and the 1968 Democratic National Convention in general with this year's election, but I think it's already been done too much (in Chicago 10 for example). So, perhaps Spielberg ultimately realized this, or at least figured out that he wouldn't get the film done in time for the November election. Of course, we're not certain that the guy has officially dropped the project, but we should hear something definite soon.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
2-22-2008 @ 8:37PM
Liam said...
Rumor has it he wants to start production on the Abraham Lincoln next...
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2-22-2008 @ 8:37PM
Ryan said...
Oh that's too bad, this did sound like an interesting project.
Of course, I want him to make movies when he's ready and only then, but I was hoping for a Spielberg "double feature" in 2008, like what he did in 89, 93, 97, 2002 and 2005, as he hasn't made a movie since "Munich" and that feels like a long time ago.
Though of course that's because he's been hard at work on Indiana Jones, which a fair portion of the Cinematical staff seem intent on bashing.
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2-22-2008 @ 9:55PM
Devin said...
Chris, you saw the doc and don't see how it's relevant to today? I can't wait for that review.
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2-23-2008 @ 9:37AM
Christopher Campbell said...
The Chicago 7 have little relevance. But yeah, the Chicago 10 doc does force the parallel, and I think badly. And unnecessarily. Aside from that, though, I loved the film.
2-23-2008 @ 12:52AM
Kadabr said...
"Frosty" has no idea what he is talking about. The movie is delayed due to to the potential actor's strike and not for any other reason. It will eventually happen once the issue is resolved.
He did not lose any interest at all. In fact he is more excited about the movie than ever.
And no, Lincoln will not happen for the same reason. In fact, if the strike does happen it's going to affect all the movies and not just Spielberg's.
Spielberg is just being smart because he understands that without the actor's there cannot be a movie.
This is the last word on the issue.
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