Liberal screenwriter Aaron Sorkin has another project to spread his ideological views to the masses.
The Newsroom creator’s Chicago 7 project is finally a go with Paul Greengrass in final negotiations to direct.
The modestly budgeted $20M-$30M film will start production probably in January. DreamWorks is funding all development with its financial partners, and Disney will distribute.
The film promises to be packed with ideology given the subject matter. The Chicago 7 were ’60s era radicals, including Tom Hayden and Abbie Hoffman, accused of inciting violence at the 1968 Democratic National Convention.
While Greengrass delivered the apolitical United 93 as well as The Bourne Ultimatum, he also directed the far-left fantasy dud The Green Zone. Sorkin’s resume, including The West Wing, The American President and A Few Good Men, features only a handful of nonpartisan entries.
Steven Spielberg was originally attached to direct the film, but he eventually left the project as it lingered in Hollywood limbo.
The production’s modest budget makes sense. Radicalism hasn’t exactly been selling at the cineplex lately. The East, a sympathetic tale of an anarchist group’s schemes to smite evil corporations, stiffed at the box office. So did The Company You Keep, Robert Redford’s ode to the Weather Underground and its like-minded souls.
Redford’s film boasted a terrific cast, generally kind reviews and plenty of press but only managed to haul in $5 million.