Netflix's 'The Trial of the Chicago 7' Has a Star-Studded Trailer
Netflix has a weighty historical drama up its sleeve with The Trial of the Chicago 7, Aaron Sorkin's star-studded take on the peaceful anti-war demonstrations that escalated into a clash with police at the 1968 Democratic National Convention. The organizers of the protest were charged with conspiring to incite riots, which led into one of the most infamous trials in history.
With shots of crowds changing "no justice, no peace," the protest-inspired film has some timely scenes as it arrives in the wake of Black Lives Matter demonstrations—believed to be the largest protest movement in history—which has been marked with police brutality and discord between demonstrators and law enforcement.
"I never wanted it to be an exercise in nostalgia or a history lesson," Sorkin told The Hollywood Reporter of the film's timeliness. "I wanted it to be about today. But I never imagined that today would get so much like 1968."
Here's what to know of Sorkin's latest before it soon arrives to the streaming platform.
It premieres October 16.
The Trial of the Chicago 7 debuts on Netflix on Friday, October 16 at 3 a.m. ET / 12 a.m. PT. It will also be available to view in select theaters starting September 25.
The cast is full of familiar names.
Eddie Redmayne (Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them) plays anti-war activist Tom Hayden
Sacha Baron Cohen (Borat) plays Youth International Party member Abbie Hoffman
Jeremy Strong (Succession) plays counterculture icon Jerry Rubin
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (Watchmen) plays Black Panther Party co-founder Bobby Seale
Alex Sharp (How to Talk to Girls at Parties) plays activist Rennie Davis
John Carroll Lynch (Fargo) plays peace activist David Dellinger
Noah Robbins (The Assistant) plays Lee Wiener
Daniel Flaherty (King Jack) plays John Froines
Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Inception) plays prosecutor Richard Schultz and
Michael Keaton plays human rights attorney and former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark
Mark Rylance plays defense attorney William Kunstler
Frank Langella plays judge Julius Hoffman
Kelvin Harrison Jr. (Luce) plays Black Panther Party member Fred Hampton
Caitlin Fitzgerald (Succession) and Alice Kremelberg (Orange Is the New Black) also star.
Sorkin has been working on the film for 14 years.
Steven Spielberg first mentioned the idea for the movie 14 years ago, and was set to direct but moved on to other projects through the years. Sorkin turned in his first draft for the screenplay in 2007, he told The Hollywood Reporter, but events such as the writers' strike in 2007 halted production.
Sorkin revived the project in 2018—this time as the director—after Donald Trump was elected president in 2016, and after his directorial debut, Molly's Game, received high praise, which earned him a bigger production budget, THR reports.
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