As part of a major feature piece in Vanity Fair, the first photos have been released from Aaron Sorkin’s new film “The Trial of the Chicago 7” which Netflix will release on October 16th.
The project deals with the true story of the riots near the 1968 Chicago Democratic Convention. Several counterculture activists spearheaded a massive protest in Grant Park against the Vietnam War. What started as a peaceful demonstration soon turned into a televised bloodbath with first the cops and then the National Guard getting involved.
A wild and infamous six-month trial followed in 1969 in which the organizers were accused by President Nixon’s Department of Justice of criminal conspiracy and crossing state lines to incite a riot. The unjustness of that spectacle helped radicalize millions of disaffected American kids.
Steven Spielberg had long wanted to do the film but ultimately handed it over to Sorkin to direct and encouraged the screenwriter to go for it. Sorkin tweaked his screenplay to underline the similar polarisation of politics happening both then and now along with wanting to make sure the film does not feel like a docudrama.
As a result the film has three focuses – the courtroom drama of the trial itself, the evolution of the riot and how it got out of hand, and a more personal story of the bond developed between humorous firecracker Abbie Hoffman (Sacha Baron Cohen) and the buttoned down Tom Hayden (Eddie Redmayne).
The film also stars Jeremy Strong as anti-war activist Jerry Rubin, Frank Langella as the villainous Judge Hoffman, Mark Rylance as defense lawyer William Kunstler, Joseph Gordon-Levitt as prosecutor Richard Schultz, Michael Keaton as former attorney general Ramsey Clark, and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as Black Panther member Bobby Seale. Kelvin Harrison Jr. and J.C. Mackenzie co-star.
Head over to VanityFair.com for the full collection of photos.
Exclusive: Your first look at Aaron Sorkin’s #TheTrialOfTheChicago7 is here https://t.co/buSMrrMAW2
— VANITY FAIR (@VanityFair) July 22, 2020
