So Oliver Stone wasn't able to make a biopic about a famous gay leader work, well now it looks like Steven Spielberg is giving it an attempt - minus the sex.
Today's Variety reports that Spielberg has begun discussions with Liam Neeson to play the president as he steers the North to victory in the Civil War. The plan is to start production next January. Spielberg is currently shooting "War of the Worlds" which he'll finish principal photography on in late March.
Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Doris Kearns Goodwin's book "The Uniter: The Genius of Abraham Lincoln" is finally set for release next Fall after a two-year delay from original publication date. Dreamworks picked up the film rights to the book back in 2001 when Spielberg became interested in the project. Paul Webb is the current screenwriter on the project. Lincoln's name has been making headlines of late with the publication of well-respected sex researcher C.A. Tripp's "The Intimate World of Abraham Lincoln", a purported study of Abe's alleged homosexuality. Whilst the book has its supporters including the illustrious Gore Vidal and includes some pretty eyebrow-raising facts, others have been very critical of said book and its evidence. A spokesman for Spielberg refused to confirm the director had made any definite decisions on the movie's casting or when it would start. If Spielberg is indeed eyeing a January 2006 start, that would delay further his long-planned film about a terrorist incident during the 1972 Munich Olympics. Thanks to 'Wham'.
