Bobby Seale, who co-founded the Black Panther Party with Huey P. Newton, was one of eight people charged with violating the law for Vietnam War protests surrounding the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Seale called Judge Julius Hoffman a racist for denying his request for a separate trial. The judge responded by having Seale bound and gagged in court before separating his trial and sentencing him to 48 months in prison. The remaining defendants became known as the Chicago 7 and the story became a landmark moment in the history of the civil rights movement. Aaron Sorkin is set to direct the upcoming political drama, The Trial Of The Chicago 7, and Sacha Baron Cohen is now in the running to star, according to Deadline.
Sorkin, best known for TV shows like The West Wing and films like Moneyball, Steve Jobs and The Social Network, wrote the screenplay more than 10 years ago, with an eye toward having Steven Spielberg direct the film. The film will be produced by Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment, and Marc Platt.
The Chicago Seven defendants organised protest marches and rock concerts at the Democratic National Convention, which turned in riots, which the police put down with tear gas and beatings. The press sided with the youth, denouncing Chicago Mayor Richard Daley and the cops for overreacting.
The seven defendants were represented by defense attorney William Kunstler, who was also sentenced to four years for calling Hoffman’s court a “medieval torture chamber.”
Baron Cohen, who has been working on his Showtime series Who Is America? and is currently shooting the Netflix series The Spy, is in early talks to play Judge Hoffman.
The Trial Of The Chicago 7 nearly happened in 2013, with Paul Greengrass set to direct, but that went under because of the budget (and Ben Stiller also once considered directing the film). Spielberg thought Sorkin should direct the film after seeing his directorial debut on the film adaptation of Stephen King’s novel Molly’s Game, so passed on it himself.
More as we get it.