After a brief interruption caused by his stage adaptation ofTo Kill a Mockingbird, writer-directorAaron Sorkinhas resumed casting his political dramaThe Trial of the Chicago 7, recruitingSeth RogenandJoseph Gordon-Levittto joinEddie Redmayne,Sacha Baron Cohen,Jonathan MajorsandAlex Sharp, it was announced Friday.
Oscar winner Sorkin wrote the script, which chronicles the infamous 1969 trial of seven defendants charged by the federal government with conspiracy and more, arising from the counterculture protests in Chicago at the 1968 Democratic National Convention. While the story is set in the late-’60s, the film aims to empower young people during a particularly divisive time in our country.
Baron Cohen and Oscar winner Redmayne will star asAbbie HoffmanandTom Hayden, respectively, while Majors will playBobby Sealeand Sharp will playRennie Davis. Rogen has been cast asJerry Rubin, and Gordon-Levitt is set to playRichard Schultz. Meanwhile,Michael Keatonis being eyed to playWilliam Kunstler, and while the former Batman doesn’t come cheap, the chance to recite Sorkin’s juicy dialogue on the big screen may be hard to resist.
Trial of the Chicago 7will serve as yet another reunion for Rogen and Gordon-Levitt, who co-starred in50/50andThe Night Before. They have great chemistry together and I’m eager to see how their onscreen personas mesh with guys like Redmayne and Baron Cohen. Rogen also delivered one of the best performances of his career inSteve Jobs, which was written by Sorkin.
Marc Platt(La La Land) will produce along withMatt Jackson, who worked with Sorkin onThe Social Networkscribe’s directorial debutMolly’s Game. CAA Media Finance will represent the film’s U.S. rights and Rocket Science will begin shopping the project to foreign buyers in Berlin next week.
“I’m thrilled to be making a movie about one of one of the craziest, funniest, most intense, most tragic and most triumphant trials in American history. C-7 may take place in the late ’60’s, but there’s no better time to tell this story than today," said Sorkin.
Rogen next stars oppositeCharlize Theronin the comedyLong Shot, while Gordon-Levitt just wrapped a Netflix movie withJamie Foxx. He’s represented by WME, while Rogen is repped by UTA.
