Actor Tom Hanks and director Steven Spielberg sat in on a staff meeting at the offices of the Washington Post on Thursday to prepare for an upcoming film about the newspaper’s publication of the Pentagon Papers in 1971.
Post reporter David Nakamura tweeted a photograph of the Hollywood megastars and frequent collaborators attending the editorial meeting.
Hanks and Spielberg will team for for what will be their fifth collaboration on The Post, an account of the newspaper’s publication in 1971 of explosive secret intelligence reports conducted on U.S. military involvement in Vietnam between 1945 and 1967.
The Washington Post and the New York Times ultimately sued the federal government over their publication of what became known as the “Pentagon Papers,” claiming First Amendment protection and the public’s right to know. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the newspapers, 6-3.
Hanks is reportedly set to play Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee, while Meryl Streep will play Post publisher Kay Graham.
Spielberg will direct the film and co-finance under his Amblin Entertainment banner. The film currently has no release date.
Follow Daniel Nussbaum on Twitter: @dznussbaum
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