'The Trial of the Chicago 7' Trailer: Aaron Sorkin Brings Protest, Dissent & Rebellion To A Boil In Tense Courtroom Drama

Social reviews for Aaron Sorkin‘s “The Trial of the Chicago 7” broke last night on Twitter, and the word is mostly positive and good. People have praised the way Sorkin’s movie echoes our current age of protest, rage and dissent and the Sorkinese rat-at-tat patter.

The movie, back in 2007, was a Steven Spielberg project, even Paul Greengrass flirted with directing it too. But Spielberg hanged on for several years until some 13 years later when the Oscar-winning “The Social Network” screenwriter made his shift to directig and made his feature-length debut with “Molly’s Game” in 2017 starring Jessica Chastain. Impressed, Spielberg gave him his blessing and said he could direct “The Trial Of The Chicago 7” himself. The movie is the infamous true-life story of seven anti-Vietnam war protestors on trial stemming from charges on conspiracy to incite a riot, surrounding the uprising at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois.|

The cast is overloaded and the ensemble cast includes Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Sacha Baron Cohen, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Michael Keaton, Frank Langella, John Carroll Lynch, Eddie Redmayne, Mark Rylance, Alex Sharp, Jeremy Strong, Noah Robbins, Danny Flaherty, Ben Shenkman, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Caitlin Fitzgerald, Alice Kremelberg, John Doman, J.C. MacKenzie, Damien Young, Wayne Duvall and C.J. Wilson.

Here’s the official synopsis:

What was intended to be a peaceful protest at the 1968 Democratic National Convention turned into a violent clash with police and the National Guard. The organizers of the protest—including Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, Tom Hayden and Bobby Seale—were charged with conspiracy to incite a riot and the trial that followed was one of the most notorious in history.

In case you want to know who is playing the famous figures, Sacha Baron Cohen is Yippie Abbie Hoffman, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II is Black Panther Party member Bobby Seale, Eddie Redmayne stars as Tom Hayden and “Succession” star Jeremy Strong plays Jerry Rubin. “The Trial Of The Chicago 7,” will apparently premiere in select theaters in September (though the month is almost over and there’s no date) and on Netflix on October 16. Watch the first official trailer below.