There hasn’t been much news out of the Spielberg camp since he announced that his next film after WAR HORSE would be a biopic of Abraham Lincoln. But now they have cast some big triple barrelled names with TOMMY LEE JONES as Thaddeus Stevens and JOSEPH GORDON-LEVITT as Robert Todd Lincoln.
It was pretty obvious that Jones would join as its an American period film but he inclusion of Levitt is great making this his first Spielberg film but sadly isn’t playing John Wilkes Booth. They join a cast already consisting of James Spader (CRASH), Tim Blake Nelson (THE INCREDIBLE HULK), Joseph Cross (MILK), Bruce McGill (FAIR GAME) and Hal Holbrook (ALL THE PRESIDENT’S MEN). But that’s not all with rumours of an additional Byron Jennings (THE ICE STORM), Dakin Matthews (THE EAGLE),
Gloria Reuben (ER), Boris McGiver (TAKING WOODSTOCK), David Costabile (HENRY’S CRIME), Jeremy Strong (THE HAPPENING) and David Warshofsky (UNSTOPPABLE)
LINCOLN is looking to start rolling near the end of the year with a Fall 2012 release date. Here’s the press release that went out earlier:
Based on the best-selling book, Team of Rivals, by Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, the screenplay has been written by the Pulitzer Prize winner, Tony Award winner, and Academy Award nominated writer Tony Kushner. It will be produced by Kathleen Kennedy and Steven Spielberg.
The film will focus on the political collision of Lincoln and the powerful men of his cabinet on the road to abolition and the end of the Civil War.
Oscar winner Tommy Lee Jones will play Thaddeus Stevens, a Republican leader and powerful congressman from Pennsylvania in the U.S. House of Representatives. Stevens was a staunch supporter of abolishing slavery and was critical to writing the legislation that funded the American Civil War.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt, known for his roles in “Inception,” “(500) Days of Summer,” and next year’s “The Dark Knight Rises,” will take on the role of Robert Todd Lincoln, eldest son of President Lincoln and the only one to live past his teenage years.
Other announced cast will take on various supporting roles in the film.
