Spielberg Says 'Lincoln' is "Coming Together"

Monday

12Jan2009

Spielberg Says 'Lincoln' is "Coming Together"

Monday, January 12, 2009 at 6:23PM

If there's a bio-pic I've been waiting and waiting for, it's Steven Spielberg's Lincoln. Lately, Spielberg has been best working on historical subjects. You can put Saving Private Ryan up against any war film, and Schindler's List and Munich both tackle intense subjects appropriately but with a rare cinematic quality a lot of directors could never muster.

Other guys make better sci-fi now, but where Spielberg is at his best is in histories. And Lincoln, presumably based on several sources but certainly Doris Kearns Goodwin's Team of Rivals, has been on the radar for several years now. Last night, Spielberg updated The Hollywood Reporter on a few future projects, including the likelihood of a fifth Indiana Jones project (boring), but said that Lincoln is "coming together really quickly."

Then somebody should tell Liam Neeson, Spielberg's pick to play the 16th president. The star of the upcoming Taken told Coming Soon, "I don't know (anything) other than what you know. He asked me four years ago would I play this part and I most certainly said I would."

"He'll do it whenever he's ready to do it, but it's in the works."

Neeson admitted that he hadn't seen a script and didn't know how many years of Lincoln's life he's looking at playing, especially since Neeson is now Lincoln's age when he was assassinated, although he suspected that it would primarily be the Civil War era.

Even for Spielberg, who shot and cut Munich in less than five months, this film would take a while and a good deal of money to execute properly. Lots of period settings, perhaps a few battlefield scenes, and I think we can expect something in the near-three hour range.

But I certainly hope they get around to it soon, perhaps after Spielberg finishes his work on Tintin.

Colin Boyd |

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