Bourne Ultimatum director Paul Greengrass has reportedly signed on to direct The Trial of the Chicago 7, a project Steven Spielberg was first interested in back in 2007. The script’s sudden revival this week proves that nothing is really dead in Hollywood.
Back in 2007, Aaron Sorkin agreed to work on three scripts for Spielberg’s DreamWorks, including The Trial of the Chicago 7, a project centered on the 1968 Chicago Democratic Convention. That was the one that Spielberg liked the most and appeared to be on track to making it his follow-up to Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. According to The Huffington Post, Spielberg even said in a 2008 Vanity Fair profile that he had actors in mind.
But then nothing happened. In late 2008, Ben Stiller actually entered the picture, but its budget grew too much for DreamWorks. Sorkin put the project behind him and went on to do The Social Network.
Now, seemingly out of the blue, Deadline reported Wednesday that Greengrass is in talks to direct the script. It could cost $20-$30 million to make and DreamWorks will get help from partners like Disney. Casting hasn’t started since Greengrass hasn’t signed the deal yet.
After the Deadline report, The Hollywood Reporter confirmed that Social Network producer Scott Rudin has boarded the project as well. Rudin and Greengrass worked on the Tom Hanks film Captain Phillips, which hits theaters in October.
The Chicago 7 would center on seven people charged with conspiracy in starting the riots at the ‘68 convention. The trial was closely watched by the media at the time.
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