The Trial of the Chicago 7 Casting Rumors

It looks like the dudes at CHUD have dug up sfrsh casting rumors regarding the upcoming Spielberg picture The Trial of the Chicago 7. We get the scoop today via ropeofsilicon:

CHUD has posted an interesting new rumor concerning Steven Spielberg’s proposed next film The Trial of the Chicago 7 currently expected to star Sacha Baron Cohen as Abbie Hoffman as the film follows anti-Vietnam War activists arrested at the 1968 Democratic Convention. CHUD sources, however, say the Cohen deal isn’t as “done” as it was expected to be. The reason behind such rumors was not known, but the CHUD boys don’t often post news unless they have it on good authority.

However, they do have a little bit of new casting news saying that Jeff Daniels and Colin Hanks are on Steven’s “get” list with expectations of Daniels playing Dave Dellinger, one of the oldest defendents in the case, and Hanks would be Rennie Davis, an SDS activist who was interested in political change rather than wholesale social change.

Jeff Daniels was in a commercial earlier this year promoting the advantages of doing business in Michigan. I was surprised to see him in a commercial, and am glad Spielberg has decided to give him a spot in his upcoming film. I wonder if Steven saw the same commercial I did and said “Jesus, Jeff needs to eat!” Probably not, I doubt Daniels is hurting for money, I would guess that he did the commercial because he loves Michigan, believes in her people and is honestly excited about the opportunity that is there for the taking.

It is strange that Sacha BAron Cohen is not yet locked into this project. We have heard news for a while now that he was being tapped for this, and I wonder why we have a delay. It is either a schedule conflict or a money issue, and I suppose time will reveal the truth. I certainly hope Cohen gets on board this train, I think he is an outstanding comedic actor and am very interested in seeing him perform in a dramatic role (in a Spielberg picture to boot!). I do not know much about the Chigago 7, but a film about war activists is timely and should tackle issues that were true then and now. We will keep you posted on the casting news, and in the meantime please enjoy the following message: