Robert Redford* is planning to direct The Conspirator, a drama about Mary Suratt, one of the convicted conspirators behind the Abraham Lincoln assassination. Yes, you heard that right: he's totally stepping onto Steven Spielberg's turf and planning a Lincoln story. We hear that after this Redford's planning a film about an archaeologist who fights dinosaurs with a whip too.
But seriously folks, this is an interesting tale. The official histories have it that Confederate sympathiser Mary Suratt, a widow and boarding house owner in mid-19th century Washington, supplied weapons to assassin John Wilkes Booth and his accomplice David Herold as they went to kill the US President in the volatile wake of the American Civil War. However, this story will focus on the Union hero assigned to defend her, Frederick Aiken, and his growing conviction that she might be innocent after all.
Redford's said to want James McAvoy for one of the leading roles - presumably Aiken - but there's no other word on casting yet. James Solomon wrote the script, and with a bit of luck we could see this late next year - almost certainly beating Spielberg's Lincoln to the punch.
*Who celebrates his birthday today: happy birthday Mr Redford!