Finally pulled out of development limbo this month and handed to long-attached writer Aaron Sorkin to direct, The Trial Of The Chicago 7 is boosting its cast complement. Eddie Redmayne is the latest person in talks.
Based on Brett Morgen’s documentary Chicago 10, the film follows the infamous 1969 trial of seven defendants charged by the federal government with conspiracy, arising from the counterculture protests in Chicago at the 1968 Democratic National Convention. The trial transfixed the nation and sparked a conversation about mayhem intended to undermine the US government.
With Sacha Baron Cohen nearing a deal to play activist Abbie Hoffman, Redmayne would be Tom Hayden, the co-founder of the Students for a Democratic Society, who was best known for his role as an anti-war, civil rights, and radical intellectual activist in the 1960s, authoring the Port Huron Statement and eventually standing trial in the Chicago Seven case.
This is one that Steven Spielberg in particular has been trying to get made from the days when he originally considered directing itself (and had Cohen circling a role.) Now, after passing through the hands of several other filmmakers, it finally seems to be happening with Sorkin in charge and the backing of Spielberg's Amblin company.
Redmayne will be back on our screens as Newt Scamander in Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes Of Grindelwald, due on 16 November. Here's Everything You Need To Know about that one.
Keep up to date with all the latest movie news, click here to subscribe to Empire on Great Magazines and have the latest issue delivered to your door every month.