In development for years, the Aaron Sorkin-penned The Trial of the Chicago 7 appears to be back on track. Deadline reports that Paul Greengrass in talks to direct the DreamWorks Pictures project.
The true story follows protesters who disrupted the 1968 Democrat party convention with an anti-Vietnam war “carnival” that turned nasty. Demonstrators threw bricks, police responded with tear gas and the center of Chicago was engulfed in flames. Curfews only escalated the violence.
After the clashes, independent investigators blamed eight police officers and eight protesters including Hoffman, who had already disrupted the New York Stock Exchange with showers of fake money.
The police were not charged but the protesters were accused of inciting a riot. One was jailed for contempt, leaving the seven to fight the charges.
Steven Spielberg was, for years, planning to direct The Trial of the Chicago 7 himself, but the plan now seems to move forward without him with January of 2014 targeted for the film to begin production.
Greengrass’ next, Captain Phillips, hits theaters October 11 and stars Tom Hanks in the true story of Captain Richard Phillips and the 2009 hijacking by Somali pirates of the US-flagged MV Maersk Alabama, the first American cargo ship to be hijacked in two hundred years.
(Photo Credit: WENN.com)
