Eddie Redmayne To Join Aaron Sorkin's THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7
Eddie Redmayne (Fantastic Beasts) is in talks to join Amblin Entertainment’s Trial of the Chicago 7 which is a project that producer Steven Spielberg has been trying to get off the ground for years.
Aaron Sorkin (Molly’s Game) was recently hired to the direct the film from a script that he wrote, which is based on Brett Morgan’s documentary Chicago 10 which recounts “the infamous 1969 trial of seven defendants charged by the federal government with conspiracy and more, arising from the countercultural protests in Chicago at the 1968 Democratic National Convention. The trial transfixed the nation and sparked a conversation about mayhem intended to undermine the U.S. government.”
Redmayne will take on the role of radical 1960s activist Tom Hayden, “who was the co-founder of the Students for a Democratic Society. He ultimately stood trial in the Chicago Seven case.”
Hayden penned the SDS’s near 26K word political manifesto The Port Huron Statement which called for participatory democracy and non-violent civil disobedience and the idea that citizens can make social decisions determining the quality and the direction of their lives. Hayden, who died in October 2016, was marred to Jane Fonda from 1973-1990. Later in life, Hayden won seats in the California Assembly and the California Senate.
Sacha Baron Cohen is also said to be in talks to play activist Abbie Hoffman, which was Spielberg’s original choice for the role when he was developing the project.
I’m a big fan of the work that Sorkin has done over the years he’s going to do a great job with this. I’m looking forward to seeing how it turns out, especially with the script that he writes for it. The guy know how to write great dialogue.
Source: Deadline