Spielberg to tackle a Team of Rivals

Sat, 04/16/2011 - 12:19pm by amy

Last year I finally got around to reading Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln (2005) by Doris Kearns Goodwin and it was surprisingly thrilling to see how our great president brilliantly juggled arrogant generals, jealous cabinet members, a moody wife and personal tragedy against the backdrop of the Civil War. Yesterday I heard that Steven Spielberg is basing his upcoming film about Lincoln on Goodwin's book, and if Spielberg's pedigree isn't enough to excite you about the prospects of this film, consider that he's cast two-time Oscar winner, Daniel Day Lewis to play the president (yay!) and two-time Oscar winner Sally Field to play Mary Lincoln. Other major talent, such as Kevin Spacey and Sean Penn, are also rumored to have roles. I'm nearly as geeked to find out who ends up playing William Seward and Salmon Chase as I was ten years ago when they were casting Gandalf and Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings.