When Aaron Sorkin isn’t allegedly doing pot and shrooms he writes movies and television shows. Over the years he’s had more hits than misses, including A Few Good Men and The American President as well as “Sports Night” (cut off way too soon) and “The West Wing” (allowed to go on way too long.) His next movie, Charlie Wilson’s War starring Tom Hanks, will be in theaters by the end of the year. But Aaron has to look to his future, alleged drug users need money it seems, and in that vein he has signed a deal to write three films for the folks at Dreamworks. Variety says the first one will be directed by none other than Steven Spielberg himself.
The first Dreamworks/Sorkin collaboration is scheduled to be The Trial of the Chicago 7. As should be pretty obvious from the title, the movie is about the trial of seven counter-culture protestors (including Abbie Hoffman, Bobby Seale, and Tom Hayden) who were put on trial for inciting a riot and conspiracy related to their actions during the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. No stars have been attached and it’s not even certain that Spielberg will direct, although he has been working on it for awhile.
The biggest news here is actually that other than an HBO docudrama, there hasn’t been much in the way of movie connection to what is considered a pretty defining event of the 1960s. It did inspire the Crosby, Stills, Nash, (and maybe) Young song “Chicago,” but for Hollywood lefties looking to make a point, this seems like a golden opportunity left unmined.
