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

An official press release announced yesterday that principal photography began on Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson's collaboration on bringing the classic comic character Tintin to the big screen. Along with the announcement of production commencing, the project was also given an official title and confirmed cast.

The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn is a 3-D motion-capture film being directed by Steven Spielberg utilizing state-of-the-art technology from Peter Jackson's WETA Digital. Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead), Joe Cornish and Steven Moffat (Doctor Who, Coupling) are credited with writing the screenplay. This project has been in development for some time now tracing all the way back to Spielberg's first hearing of the comic series just after someone had compared Raiders of the Lost Ark to the adventures of Tintin and a history of its development has been traced by UK's Sunday Times. The comic focuses on the adventures of a young Belgian reporter in pursuit of a great story.

Taking on the role of this intrepid reporter is rising star Jamie Bell who was most recently seen in Defiance and is better known for his portrayal of the title role in Billy Elliot. Also recently unannounced is the involvement of 007 himself, Daniel Craig, as the character Red Rackham. Toby Jones (Infamous) is also on board in a still unknown role. Today's press release also confirmed the previously rumored casting of Simon Pegg and Nick Frost as Thomson and Thompson and motion capture legend Andy Serkis as Captain Haddock.

While I don't have any sort of nostaligia connected to Tintin I still vaguely remember the animated series of the comic strip being on Nickelodeon. What's got me most excited about this film now is seeing Spielberg tackle a motion-capture film with Peter Jackson (who will actually be directing the second in a planned trilogy of Tintin's adventures). Two of my favorite directors combined with the writing talents of Edgar Wright and Steven Moffat and a great cast make this a must-see for me when this one gets released in 2011. I just don't know if audiences are going to clamor to see a character who hasn't had any sort of mainstream exposure since the early 90's. Spileberg and Jackson's involvement is a big boost, but time will tell and a trailer will surely make or break the hype machine. If you'd like to read the whole press release, head on over to ComingSoon.net.

Labels: Adventures of Tintin, Andy Serkis, Daniel Craig, Edgar Wright, Jamie Bell, Nick Frost, Peter Jackson, Simon Pegg, Spielberg, Steven Spielberg, Tintin, Toby Jones