Looking back, it seems 2005 was the first time I mentioned Steven Spielberg’s Abraham Lincoln project simply titled Lincoln. That article was written to announce the news Liam Neeson would be starring as the 16th President of the United States. Neeson has since been replaced by Daniel Day-Lewis and six years later the film is finally taking shape.
Now if you’ll allow me to go back in time once more, this time we journey to 2007, which was when Newsweek announced Sally Field would star opposite Neeson as Mary Todd, describing Lincoln’s wife and how she was involuntarily committed to an insane asylum in her later years after three of her four kids didn’t live to adulthood, and her husband was shot as he held her hand. Field, at that time, had secured the role as Marcia Gay Harden was also rumored for the part.
Flashing forward once again, today DreamWorks Studios has issued a press release saying Field will play Mary Todd opposite Day-Lewis in Lincoln, which is based on the best-selling book, “Team of Rivals,” by Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Doris Kearns Goodwin. The screenplay was written by the Pulitzer Prize winner, Tony Award winner, and Academy Award nominated writer Tony Kushner and will be produced by Kathleen Kennedy and Steven Spielberg.
Now to the curious wording of the synopsis:
It is anticipated that 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.
I don’t quite understand the “It is anticipated” portion of that. Is the script finished or not or will the theme of the picture be unclear until it is edited together?
Filming is expected to begin in the fall of 2011 for release in the fourth quarter of 2012 through Disney’s Touchstone distribution label. So I guess they have some time to put some final touches on the script if need be, but suffice to say I think this is the Spielberg film most of us have been waiting for for quite a while.
I know there are fans of Tintin that can’t wait for The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn to arrive this December. Also, fans of the beard are probably just as excited for War Horse that same month, but I’d like to think the reason Lincoln is still getting made after all these years is the overwhelming amount of interest from folks like myself and you reading this right now. Well, it’s finally getting made, let’s hope it was worth the wait.
