In the past few days there have been several articles about the future of Steven Spielberg's Lincoln biopic. Like every other Lincolnian out there, I was very excited when I first heard about this project a few years ago. Especially since I heard that Spielberg would be basing his film on Doris Kearns Goodwin's Team of Rivals, which I think is an excellent Lincoln book. However, my excitement has abated in recent months when it seemed that funding and other hiccups would keep the film from ever being made. Imagine my surprise when I read two articles in the UK's Guardian and Variety that quote Spielberg saying that his Lincoln film will move forward, while simultaneously announcing that Robert Redford plans on directing a Lincoln film of his own!
Read the Variety article here, and the Guardian's article here.
Robert Redford plans to direct a film called The Conspirator which focuses on the story of Mary Surratt, a woman accused of conspiring to kill Lincoln. James McAvoy is set to star as an idealistic attorney who comes to believe her claims of innocence while working in her defense. I don't want to ruin the ending of this film but this picture tells a story.Steven Spielberg's biopic, on the other hand, focuses on Lincoln's anguish over the Civil War. He is quoted in both stories as saying he doesn't mind the competition of Redford's Lincoln film, which will be released first, "We are very happy that Redford will be doing this Lincoln movie," he said. "It is completely different from what our DreamWorks Lincoln movie will be, and we believe that it will add to the commercial potential of our film. Lincoln as a subject is inexhaustible." While I don't know if Redford's film will affect the success of Spielberg's film either positivley or negatively, I can agree that Lincoln as a subject is inexhaustible.
Follow the production of Spielberg’s movie here.
Follow the production schedule of Robert Redford’s film (rumored to be shooting in Savannah, GA) here.
[Images via www.wuis.org and www.usa-civil-war.com]
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In 5th grade, some of my classmates and I made a short movie about the assassination of Lincoln. It was an all girl cast, with a blond girl as Abe.
ReplyDeleteHey Kschenke! Thanks for visiting my page. That video project sounds pretty interesting. So if a blond girl played Abe, who did you play? I had a chance to visit your blog and I really liked it. I agreed with your review of Julie and Julia, a film I really enjoyed.
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