‘Trial of the Chicago 7’: Netflix Looking to Acquire Aaron Sorkin’s Film From Paramount!!

Netflix seems to be in the market for another future Oscar contender. The streaming giant is reportedly looking to acquire Aaron Sorkin‘s The Trial of the Chicago 7 from Paramount Pictures.

On Saturday morning, Variety reported Netflix is circling a purchase deal with Paramount for the Sorkin historical drama. No specifics on the deal were revealed at time of reporting. As such, it’s hard to tell whether this deal is in the early stages of negotiation or is nearly closed. News of Netflix’s interest in Trial of the Chicago 7 arrive just one month after we learned Paramount had pushed the pic’s release date to October 16, 2020. The studio picked up Trial of the Chicago 7 back in August 2019 after production on the movie came to a halt. Since then, it’s been cooling its proverbial heels while in Paramount’s care.

Trial of the Chicago 7 marks Sorkin’s second directorial effort following 2017’s Molly’s Game. The movie dramatizes the events around the Chicago Seven, a group of activists who faced a multitude of charges after their arrest in the wake of anti-Vietnam War protests at the 1968 Democratic National Convention. The forthcoming drama boasts a heck of a cast, including Eddie Redmayne, Sacha Baron Cohen, Frank Langella, Mark Rylance, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Michael Keaton, John Carroll Lynch, and Jeremy Strong. Cross Creek co-financed Trial of the Chicago 7 and produced with Amblin Partners.

Netflix already has a lineup of movies which would help push it closer to making its Oscar dreams a reality. The streamer is already in the conversation with Spike Lee‘s Da 5 Bloods earning Oscar buzz less than a week after its release. We can expect the buzz to continue with David Fincher‘s Mank, which is eyeing an October release on Netflix, plus the releases of Ron Howard‘s Hillbilly Elegy, George C. Wolfe‘s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, and Ramin Bahrani‘s White Tiger on the horizon. All things considered, it makes total sense Netflix has a desire to scoop up Trial of the Chicago 7 and strengthen its Oscar-hopeful slate.