Yesterday we reported that James McAvoy and Robin Wright Penn had joined the cast of Robert Redford's Abraham Lincoln drama The Conspirator. And we wondered whether the project would scupper Steven Spielberg's own plans for a Lincoln biopic.
For the record, we decided it probably wouldn't. But by way of a confirmatory update, Variety reports this morning that Spielberg is keen to stress that his own Lincoln is still in the works.
"We are very happy that Redford will be doing this Lincoln movie," he says. "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."
The Conspirators focuses on the aftermath of Lincoln's assassination, while Spielberg's film is thought to be about Lincoln's hand-wringing over the Civil War. Tony Kushner is currently revising the script, while Spielberg concentrates on Harvey, which apparently might star Robert Downey Jr (as Elwood Dowd, not the rabbit).