Aaron Sorkin is quite possibly one of the most renowned screenwriters in Hollywood having penned screenplays like A Few Good Men and The Social Network. His debut directorial feature Molly’s Game proved that he’s more than capable behind the camera and it looks like he has more in store as a director. Now, it looks like he’s going to take on something pretty big from the king himself, Steven Spielberg as he is reportedly on board to direct The Trial of the Chicago 7.
Variety reports that Spielberg’s long-awaited political drama, The Trial of the Chicago 7 is coming into fruition nicely with Sorkin attached to direct according to sources. Not only that, Borat himself, Sacha Baron Cohen is in early talks to star in the film under Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment. Sorkin himself penned the original script but the project was for some time shelved following some talks that couldn’t be agreed upon with Paul Greengrass initially attached to direct.
The Trial of the Chicago 7 is based on the documentary Chicago 10 by Brett Morgan which follows the infamous 1969 trial of seven defendants charged by the federal government for acts of conspiracy and more. The film is aiming for an A-list cast to make up the film much like many other Spielberg attached films with Will Smith being considered during early stages of the project’s development. Baron Cohen is apparently Spielberg’s top choice to play activist Abbie Hoffman way back in 2008 and it looks like Sorkin still thinks he’s the man for the role.
Sorkin will no doubt deliver a good screenplay and hopefully he learned enough from Molly’s Game to make this spectacular. As for Baron Cohen, he isn’t really known for more dramatic roles but he is a good actor nonetheless and would definitely be someone to look forward to in this film. We don’t know much else on The Trial of the Chicago 7 but with these names attached to it, let’s hope it moves forward nicely.
Source: Variety
