'The Trial Of The Chicago 7' Back On, Adds Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen And More To Cast

Last we heard, Aaron Sorkin's The Trial of the Chicago 7 was on hold so Sorkin could devote more time to his To Kill a Mockingbird stage production. Now, the film appears to be back on, and adding even more cast members. Sacha Baron Cohen and Eddie Redmayne were previously announced, and now they're joined by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen, Alex Sharp, and more.

The film is based on the true story of the 1969 trial in which seven defendants were charged with conspiracy and other charges related to anti-Vietnam War protests during the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. More on the Trial of the Chicago 7 cast below.

Here's who's who in the Trial of the Chicago 7 cast: Eddie Redmayne (The Theory of Everything, The Danish Girl, Les Misérables, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them) as Tom Hayden, Sacha Baron Cohen (Les Misérables, Hugo, The Dictator, Borat, Bruno, Sweeney Todd) as Abbie Hoffman, Seth Rogen (This is the End, Steve Jobs, The Disaster Artist, Knocked Up) as Jerry Rubin, Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Inception, Looper, Snowden, The Walk) as Richard Schultz, Jonathan Majors (Hostiles, Lovecraft Country, Last Black Man in San Francisco, White Boy Rick) as Bobby Seale, and Alex Sharp (To the Bone, How to Talk to Girls at Parties) as Rennie Davis. 

The Trial of the Chicago 7 movie has been in the works for several years now. Originally, Steven Spielberg was going to direct Sorkin's script. Spielberg eventually backed off the project, and Paul Greengrass was brought in to helm. Greengrass left due to budget disputes. Now, screenwriter Sorkin will direct, and Spielberg will produce. Here's the synopsis:

The film is based on the infamous 1969 trial of seven defendants charged by the federal government with conspiracy and more, arising from the countercultural protests in Chicago at the 1968 Democratic National Convention.  The story is set in 1968 and 1969, but it speaks directly to the divisiveness of our times and how young people can take on power and change the world.

"I'm thrilled to be making a movie about one of one of the craziest, funniest, most intense, most tragic and most triumphant trials in American history," Sorkin said. "C-7 may take place in the late '60's, but there's no better time to tell this story than today."

Are we calling it C-7 now? Can we not? In any case, this will clearly be a prestige project, and will likely enter the awards season race whenever it hits theaters. Despite his tendencies towards mansplaining, Sorkin is a great writer, and this is a stacked cast, so the film will likely turn out well.