Meryl Streep‘s illustrious career has seen her work with countless great actors and directors, but there are two that she has yet to cross off the bucket list: Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg. She’s never co-starred with the former, nor worked with the latter beyond a small voice role in “A.I.: Artificial Intelligence.” But all of that is about to change with a true story drama that remains extraordinarily timely.
The trio are combining their powers for “The Post.” The film will tell the true story of the Pentagon Papers, released by Daniel Ellsberg, that laid bare the truth about the Vietnam War, and was hugely instrumental in changing public perception and opinion about the country’s involvement. The Washington Post was instrumental in bringing the Pentagon Papers to light, and Hanks will play editor Ben Bradlee, with Streep as publisher Kay Graham. Everyone will be working off a script by Liz Hannah.
No word yet on where this will fall on Spielberg‘s always busy schedule, but he works fast. He’s already in post on next year’s “Ready Player One,” and is gearing up to shoot “The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara,” which many are expecting to be in this year’s awards season race. Next on his docket is “Indiana Jones 5,” due in cinemas for summer 2019, but maybe he can squeeze this in somewhere first.
Either way, it’s a powerhouse package all around, and Fox will likely want to get it out there sooner rather than later. [THR]
