Disney sets Steven Spielberg’s ‘Lincoln’ with Daniel Day-Lewis for early November release

Daniel Day-Lewis fans finally know when they will get to see the two-time Oscar-winner embody the 16th president of the U.S., Abraham Lincoln. Steven Spielberg’s epic biopic has been slated for an early November release, right as the 2012 Oscar season heats up.

Lincoln will first see a limited release on Nov. 9, reports The Hollywood Reporter. It will then receive a wide release on Nov. 16.

The Wrap notes that the film is already considered one of the frontrunners for the Best Picture Oscar, so many in the industry were surprised that it took Disney so long to set the release date.

Lincoln will have formidable opponents at the box office on Nov. 16. It opens shortly after the new James Bond film Skyfall opens in the U.S. Joe Wright’s Anna Karenina adaptation also hits theaters on Nov. 16.

Also hitting theaters on Nov. 16 is The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2. Disney and Spielberg probably aren’t too worried about that film, though since Breaking Dawn is targeted to a far different demographic.

The November release will also give the film room to breathe before the glut of other Oscar-bait films like Django Unchained, Les Miserables and The Great Gatsby hit theaters in December.

Lincoln is produced by Spielberg’s DreamWorks and will be distributed under Disney’s Touchstone label in the U.S. 20th Century Fox, which co-financed the film, is handling international distribution. Participant Media also co-financed the production.

In addition to Day-Lewis, the film stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Tommy Lee Jones, Jared Harris, David Straithairn and Sally Field. It is based on historian Doris Kearns Goodwin’s Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln and was written by Pultizer Prize-winner Tony Kushner.