According to Variety, Sarah Paulson, Bob Odenkirk, Matthew Rhys, Bradley Whitford, Carrie Coon, Jesse Plemons, David Cross, Alison Brie, Bruce Greenwood, Tracy Letts, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Zach Woods have joined the ensemble of Steven Spielberg’s “The Papers,” which already stars Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep. The film centers on the Washington Post’s decision to publish the classified Pentagon Papers in 1971. Formerly known as “The Post,” the movie is a co-production between Amblin Entertainment and Fox. The film has been fast-tracked with the hope of making this year’s awards season race, with production already underway. The movie will see a limited release on Dec. 22 and go wide on Jan. 12, 2018. Amy Pascal’s Pascal Pictures purchased the spec from Liz Hannah last fall, with Pascal on board to produce along with Spielberg and Kristie Macosko Krieger. Rachel O’Connor will executive produce with Star Thrower Entertainment’s Tim and Trevor White, and Adam Somner. The pic will be co-financed by Fox and Amblin Entertainment. Fox will handle domestic distribution; international will be Amblin, through its output deals with Universal, eOne, Reliance, and others. The Pentagon Papers made headlines prior to publication when the Post’s editor Ben Bradlee and publisher Kay Graham challenged the federal government over their right to publish them. Together, the two formed an unlikely team, as they were forced to come together and make the bold decision to support The New York Times and fight the Nixon Adminstration’s unprecedented attempt to restrict the first amendment. Many thanks to Frank for the heads-up.
