Robert Redford to Direct Lincoln Assassination Film

It looks as if Robert Redford might be stepping in to take charge where Steven Spielberg is dragging his feet.   Redford won’t be doing a film about the life of Abraham Lincoln, though.   Instead, he will be directing ‘The Conspirator,’ a film about Mary Surratt, one of the conspirators behind the Lincoln assassination.   The screenplay was written by “The Bronx is Burning” scribe, James Soloman.

Surratt was a boardinghouse owner in DC.   She sympathized with the Confederates during the Civil War and supplied John Wilkes Booth and David Herold with weapons after the assassination had been completed.   Redford’s film will also deal with a young, Union soldier named Frederick Aiken who believed the woman to be innocent and who was appointed to defend her.

No casting has been completed, though, according to Risky Biz Blog, James McAvoy is near the top of the list, probably for the role of Aiken.   Produced by Greg Shapiro, Rob and Web Stone and Brian Peter Falk, ‘The Conspirator’ looks to begin shooting sometime in the Fall.