Aaron Sorkin To Direct ‘The Trial Of The Chicago 7’ With Sacha Baron Cohen To Star

Oscar-winning screenwriter Aaron Sorkin made his directorial debut in last year’s “Molly’s Game,” which starred Jessica Chastain and Idris Elba. And for his follow-up, it looks like Sorkin is lining up another A-list actor to tackle a film that Steven Spielberg has spent the last decade trying to make happen.

Variety is reporting that Sorkin is attached to direct the upcoming film, “The Trial of the Chicago 7.” The film tells the story of the infamous 1969 trial of seven people charged with conspiracy, among other things, by the federal government because of counterculture protests at the previous year’s Democratic National Convention. As mentioned, this is a film that Spielberg has spent over 10 years trying to bring to the big screen, but is now taking a producer’s role as Sorkin steps aboard. Sorkin was also attached to the project from the beginning, as the writer penned the original script for Spielberg.

READ MORE: Aaron Sorkin Explains Why He Refused To Write “Terrible” Nicole Kidman Sex Scene In ‘Malice’

Joining Sorkin in the film will likely be Sacha Baron Cohen, who is reportedly in early talks to join the cast as Abbie Hoffman. This would mark Baron Cohen’s first major film work since 2016, when he starred in the comedy “Grimsby,” as well as the regrettable “Alice Through the Looking Glass.” He just wrapped up his latest series “Who is America?” for Showtime and is currently in production of “The Spy” for Netflix.

Originally, back in 2008, Spielberg wanted Will Smith to star in the film, but due to the writers’ strike, development of the project came to a halt. Interestingly enough, Spielberg is said to have wanted Baron Cohen for the role of Hoffman even then. The project was brought back to life, briefly, in 2013, when Paul Greengrass was attached to direct. However, due to budgetary disagreements, Greengrass left.

READ MORE: Georgia Governor Is “Disgusted” By State Lawmaker Using N-Word On Baron Cohen’s ‘Who Is America?’

Since then, the film has quietly been gestating, waiting for the right filmmaker to take over. And since Sorkin was the man who wrote the original script over a decade ago, who better to take the reins and bring the story to the big screen than the man himself?

No word on a release date or production time frame, but we should be hearing more about this film in the near future as the rest of the cast gets finalized.