With the merest whiff of Oscar accompanying it the news broke today that Daniel Day-Lewis is to take on the role of Abraham Lincoln in the much delayed Spielberg project.
He won’t be hunting vampires, nor will the film focus on the final moments of his life, but the casting of Day-Lewis in such an iconic role conjures up some wonderful images and it’ll be a long wait to see this on the big screen. Liam Neeson stepped down from the role a few months ago and Spielberg’s search for a man who would be President has ended with a fine choice.
With his Tintin film and the ambiguously titled Robopocalypse on the cards, as well as the recently filmed War Horse, there’s a lot of Spielberg in our future and that’s just fine with me. Below, in the press release, the man talks about the role and the actor.
Two-time Academy Award winner Daniel Day-Lewis will star as the 16th President of the United States in DreamWorks Studios’ Lincoln to be directed by Steven Spielberg. The announcement was made today by Spielberg and Stacey Snider, Co-Chairman and CEO of DreamWorks Studios.”Daniel Day-Lewis would have always been counted as one of the greatest of actors, were he from the silent era, the golden age of film or even some time in cinema’s distant future. I am grateful and inspired that our paths will finally cross with Lincoln,” said Steven Spielberg. “Throughout his career, he has been exceptionally selective in his choice of material,” added Stacey Snider, “which makes us feel even more fortunate that he has chosen to join with us for Lincoln.”
Based on the best-selling book, Team of Rivals, by Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, the screenplay has been written by the Pulitzer Prize winner, Tony Award winner, and Academy Award nominated writer Tony Kushner. It will be produced by Kathleen Kennedy and Steven Spielberg.
It is anticipated that the film will focus on the political collision of Lincoln and the powerful men of his cabinet on the road to abolition and the end of the Civil War.
Doris Kearns Goodwin won her Pulitzer Prize for No Ordinary Time, the story of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt and the home front in World War II. Kushner’s prize was for his play Angels in America, which later became an Emmy Award-winning television special. He had previously worked with Spielberg on Munich for which he was nominated for an Oscar in the Adapted Screenplay category.
Filming is expected to begin in the fall of 2011 for release in the fourth quarter of 2012 through Disney’s Touchstone distribution label.
