Paul Greengrass to Direct Aaron Sorkin's CHICAGO 7

DreamWorks is moving forward on their production of the Aaron Sorkin-scripted film The Trial of the  Chicago 7. Steven Spielberg has been looking to direct it since 2008, but according to an inside source, no movement has been made. The source explains that “every two months it’s been revisited. The title would come up in conversation at production meetings. But it’s just been hanging.”

Not anymore. The studio is pushing it forward, and according to Deadline, they are looking to hire Paul Greengrass  (Bourne franchise) to direct it. Greengrass was also looking to direct it back in 2008 when Spielberg's plate started to fill up with other projects. It's funny to see this news pop up again five years later.

The movie is "based on the infamous 1969 federal conspiracy trial arising out of the protesters vs police violent rioting at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago that transfixed the nation because of its counter-culture and leftist mayhem intended to undermine the U.S. government."

I was hoping this movie would eventually get made, and with Greengrass at the helm, I'm sure this will end up being a solid flick. The movie goes into production in January of next year. Here's a more detailed description:

Based on the 2007 documentary "Chicago 10," by Brett Morgen. At the 1968 Democratic Convention, protesters, denied permits for demonstrations, repeatedly clashed with the Chicago Police Department, who waged a week-long terror campaign that resulted in riots witnessedlive by a television audience of over 50 million. The events had a polarizing effect on the country. Needing to find a scapegoat for the riots, theGovernment held eight of the most vocal activists accountable for the violence and brought them to trial a year later. The defendants representeda broad cross-section of the anti-war movement, from counter-culture icons Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin to renowned pacifist David Dellinger.Seven of the defendants were represented by Leonard Weinglass and famed liberal attorney William Kunstler, who went head-to-head withprosecution attorney Thomas Foran. The eighth defendant, Bobby Seale, co-chair of the Black Panther Party, insisted on defending himself andwas bound, gagged and handcuffed to his chair by Judge Julius Hoffman. From the start, the trial was a circus with the eight defendants on acollision course with the governmental authority.

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