Waiting for Lincoln Green Light

Hollywood Elsewhere is reporting that a decision will be made on the Lincoln biopic next week. The film has been in the works for a few years now with Steven Spielberg directing and Liam Neelson attached to star as the historical President, but news came from a Harvard University Institute of Politics forum panel discussion called "Looking For Lincoln: In His Time and Ours -- A Conversation on the Meaning of Abraham Lincoln." Scroll down for the scoop...

Tony Kushner has been hard at work on the script for Spielberg and he spoke at the "Looking for Lincoln" panel discussion. During the discussion he was asked if any ground had been made on the film he has been scripting. His answers give us a clearer picture of just what the film will entail and how soon it may or may not be in theaters. Kushner who has also worked with Spielberg on Munich said, "the decision will be made on Lincoln next week." He continued to say that if the film is in fact greenlit we can expect to see it in theaters by December of this year! "Out by Christmas," Kushner elaborated.

The playwright who also worked on "Angels in America" continued to explain just how the film will handle Lincoln's legacy. Kushner informed the crowd that the first draft of the script followed the final four months of Abraham Lincoln's life and was over 500 pages. That's a long freaking movie! Kushner continued and said the newest draft, "only covers two months of his life." The last thing Kushner revealed about the biopic was the film will heavily deal with the abolition of slavery. "It is a big thing in the movie," Kushner finalized.

While the Civil War will clearly be a backdrop of the film, it is doubtful that it will focus too much on the clashing war. If the film get's the go ahead, a Christmas release is a short amount of time to get done a film that will invlove a lot of Civil War battles. As Kushner eludes to, the film will most likely, follow Lincoln's decisions and his thought processes during the final two months of his life.

What say you? Does a Abraham Lincoln biopic sound good? Is Spielberg the guy to do it? How do you feel about Liam Neelson as Lincoln? Is a Christmas release date too short of a time table to get a movie like this done? Strikeback...