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There's Another Lincoln Movie with Diane Kruger & Malick Involved?

by Alex Billington
August 2, 2012
Source: Deadline

Wait - what? Even though he didn't do so well as a vampire hunter, and hasn't yet been teased in Spielberg's interpretation, Abraham Lincoln is still a hot historical figure at the moment. Deadline is reporting that our 16th U.S. President is getting another movie centered around him and his life, in a project called The Green Blade Rises, in the works with some interesting names behind it. Apparently filmmaker Terrence Malick, of all people, is producing with Nicolas Gonda and Charley Beil, who work with and have produced Malick's other recent films. That's not all - they've cast at least one of the lead female roles in the B&W film.

International actress Diane Kruger (of National Treasure, Inglourious Basterds, Mr. Nobody, Unknown, The Host) has been set to play Sarah Lincoln, "Abe's beautiful stepmother", in the film, being directed by A.J. Edwards, who also wrote the script. We don't know much about it, and details are a bit sketchy, but they seem to indicate the film focuses on the powerful women in Lincoln's life. "This version tells the story of America’s greatest hero, the hardships that shaped him, the tragedy that marked him forever and the two women who guided him to immortality. One is his stepmother, who becomes an influential figure for the future president." It sounds like the other would be Mary Todd, whom he eventually marries. In Spielberg's film, she is being portrayed by Sally Field, in Vampire Hunter, she was played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead.

The only other key details on Green Blade Rises are that it's being shot in black and white, starts shooting this fall, and spans three formative years of his life in the vast wilderness of Indiana. Very interesting. No other casting is available at the moment, including for who will play Lincoln, or Mary Todd, or anyone else in this, but we expect to hear more soon. A.J. Edwards only credits are "editorial intern" on The New World, "key artistic consultant" on The Tree of Life, and editor on To the Wonder, and now he's making his feature directorial debut, if everything comes together, but with Malick supporting, they won't have trouble.

Don't forget there's yet another Lincoln project called Saving Lincoln, from Salvador Litvak, about "Lincoln and his self-appointed bodyguard, U.S. Marshal Ward Hill Lamon - a banjo-playing Southerner who foiled repeated attempts on the President's life, and kept him functioning during the darkest hours of the Civil War." By the end of this decade, we'll have seen every possible story about Abraham Lincoln there could be. Including when he was a zombie, then a time traveler. Who knows, but it sounds like Hollywood definitely loves this guy, and we'll be seeing Terrence Malick shepherd a film about him, too. Stay tuned for updates.

Filed under Casting, Development, Movie News

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