Sometimes making movies can be a funny process. All it takes is an idea and a desire to get the ball rolling, even if that means it takes a long time to reach the finish line. In Aaron Sorkin’s case, Steven Spielberg was the driving force that got him involved with Netflix’s The Trial of the Chicago 7, and that was a little unexpected for Sorkin.
Since Aaron Sorkin is the master at writing compelling political and courtroom dramas, you’d think he’d have the idea for The Chicago 7 locked away somewhere to write about later. But that’s not how it went down. Aaron Sorkin recently interviewed on the CinemaBlend’s ReelBlend podcast and told a pretty funny story about how he ended up writing The Trial of the Chicago 7:
You know, it was fourteen years ago that Steven Spielberg asked me to come over to his house on a Saturday morning. And just to be clear, I don’t hang out with Steven Spielberg. And he said, ‘I want you to write a movie about the Chicago 7. I said, ‘That’s a great idea. It will be a great movie.’ And as soon as I left his house I had to call my father and ask him who the Chicago 7 were. I was just saying yes to doing a movie with Spielberg the way that anyone would.
That’s a pretty amazing story. No one would blame him for agreeing to do a project just because Steven Spielberg asked him to, even if he didn’t know what it was. If Steven Spielberg asks you to make a movie, you should probably just make it.
It’s been common knowledge this project has been in development for an excessively long time. Aaron Sorkin didn’t sit around writing the script, either. He wrote it back in 2007 with Steven Spielberg attached to direct. Unfortunately, Spielberg dropped out during the Writers Guild of America strike. Paul Greengrass hopped in the director’s chair after that but left after only two months.
While that project sat on the shelf, Aaron Sorkin delivered some of the best movies of the decade, including The Social Network, Moneyball, and Steve Jobs. He also took his first directing job with Molly’s Game, a movie he also wrote. Eventually, to take Chicago 7 to the finish line, he announced he would be directing it himself.
Now, by the looks of critical reviews, it looks like he’s hit another home run. CinemaBlend’s own Sean O’Connell in his review gave the film a perfect score, saying:
It’s slick, well-assembled Hollywood entertainment that should entertain as it educates, and hopefully infuriates, its audiences.
The Trial of the Chicago 7 will land on Netflix on October 16, 2020. For more movie news, be sure to stay tuned to CinemaBlend.
