Steven Spielberg could learn a few lessons from this. He’s been planning to making a biopic about Abraham Lincoln for years, but it never seems to move any further forward, however it was only a few weeks ago that Robert Redford announced he was also planning to make a movie about Honest Abe, called The Conspirator, and now the film first casting announcements have arrived for that movie, while Spielberg’s movie is still stuck somewhere in the development porcess.
Rather than a straight-up biopic, Redford’s movie will he about Mary Surratt, an alleged conspirator in Lincoln’s assasination, who went on trial for her part in the President’s death, due to the fact that the killers stopped off at her tavern to get firearms after the shooting. Now the main roles have been cast, with Robin Wright Penn setting aside her endless will they-won’t they divorce from Sean Penn to play Surratt, while MacAvoy will play her lawyer, Frederick Aiken. He’s an idealistic war hero, who initially doesn’t want to defend the alleged conspirator at her trial, but gradually begins to suspect that she’s innoceent.
The movie is due to start filming in October, for release sometime next year.