'The Post' Cast News, Details: Steven Spielberg to Direct Film Based on the Pentagon Papers Scandal
Tackling a very relevant issue in today's socio-political climate and information age, director Steven Spielberg agreed to helm an upcoming film based on the Pentagon Papers. The movie is titled "The Post," and it is confirmed to star A-list celebrities Tom Hanks ("Captain Phillips") and Meryl Streep ("Into the Woods").
The show is premised on the 1971 White House scandal that revolved around the Pentagon Papers, which revealed the extent of the U.S. government's involvement in the Vietnam War.
The Pentagon Papers were supposedly classified documents, but it was leaked to the press due to Daniel Ellsberg's initiative. Prominent news publishers, The Washington Post and the New York Times, picked up the contents and revealed it to the public through a series of articles.
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After the publication of a number of Pentagon Paper-related articles in the New York Times, the U.S. government sought an injunction to stop the press from further revealing its contents to the public, citing that its publication would cause "grave and irreparable danger." By the time that the New York Times was stopped from printing it, The Washington Post took on the responsibility of publishing the rest of the story.
The Supreme Court, however, favored the publication of the papers in recognition of the media's role of ensuring that the public gets their freedom and right to information, precisely when it comes to misjudgments and abuses from the government.
Furthermore, the court ruled that the U.S. government, headed by then President Richard Nixon, failed to prove that the publication would actually cause the danger they alleged.
Hanks is going to play Ben Bradlee, editor of The Washington Post, while Streep plays Kay Graham, the publisher. Both led the move to challenge the government regarding the press' right to publish such documents.
The film is produced by FOX and Amblin Entertainment, with a script written by Liz Hannah. A release date still has to be announced.
