It's been known for several years now that Steven Spielberg has planned on doing a biopic about the arguably greatest president that our country has ever seen: Abraham Lincoln. It has also long been known that Liam Neeson would be filling in the shoes of Honest Abe when this historical drama panned out. But what hasn't been known is when Lincoln would actually get made.

We got a bit of a hint and some hopes earlier this week when screenwriter Tony Kushner (who is writing Spielberg's Lincoln) spoke at a discussion in a Harvard University Institute of Politics panel discussion called Looking For Lincoln: In His Time and Ours -- A Conversation on the Meaning of Abraham Lincoln.

Jeffrey Wells over at Hollywood Elsewhere broke the story when he received an e-mail from one of his readers highlighting some new info on the picture.

• "the decision will be made on Lincoln next week" and that if the green light is given the film will be "out by Christmas."
  
  
• The film "only covers two months of his life," my guy says, and that "the first draft covered four months and [was] 500 pages."
  
  
• The 13th amendment -- the abolition of slavery and involuntary servitude -- "is a big thing in the movie."
  

This is certainly some interesting news, but I'm not entirely confident that Spielberg can get this film off in time for a Christmas release. I know he worked a near miracle in starting Munich in June of 2005 and having it ready for release in December, but Lincoln will be a period drama on a much more epic scale, especially if Civil War enactments come into play. The driving force behind this fast track is most likely Liam Neeson's strong presence at the box office when Taken took the number one spot in the box office a couple weeks ago. I'm not going to hold my breath on this happening, but if it does I'll be glad to see it finally go into production. We'll keep you posted.

Labels: Liam Neeson, Lincoln, Spielberg, Tony Kushner