Aaron Sorkin will direct Sacha Baron Cohen in ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’.
The ‘West Wing’ creator penned the original script for Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment, and while the ‘Ready Player One’ filmmaker initially considered directing the political drama himself in 2008, the movie was delayed due to a writer’s strike and he then couldn’t find the time to take it on.
Spielberg tried again to get the film off the ground in 2013, with Paul Greengrass attached to direct, but the filmmaker moved on and the project was shelved again due to budget issues.
And after Sorkin made his directorial debut with ‘Molly’s Game’, Spielberg approached him to take over behind the camera in ‘Chicago 7’, while the ‘Bruno’ star is said to be in early talks to lead the cast.
The movie is based on Brett Morgan’s ‘Chicago 10’ documentary, which follows the 1969 trial of seven defendants charged by the federal government with conspiracy and other offences, arising from the countercultural protests in Chicago at the 1968 Democratic National Convention.
The trial gripped the nation and sparked a conversation about chaos created to undermine the US government.
Despite all the uncertainty surrounding the project, Variety reports that Baron Cohen was always one of Spielberg’s top choices to portray activist Abbie Hoffman in the movie, while the likes of Will Smith have previously been considered for the film.
The ‘Borat’ star has recently been starring in comedy series ‘Who Is America?’ – which saw his fictional creations fool high-profile political figures – and is currently shooting ‘The Spy’ for Netflix.
Aaron Sorkin to direct Sacha Baron Cohen in political drama
