Spielberg no longer directing 'Chicago 7'

Steve Spielberg will no longer direct The Trial Of The Chicago 7, reports MovieWeb.

Sacha Baron Cohen had been persuaded by Spielberg to play political campaigner Abbie Hoffman in the film, which is based around eight Vietnam protesters accused of inciting a riot at the 1968 Democrat party convention.

Producer Walter F. Parkes explained that the director had quit the project due to the WGA strike and his commitment to the upcoming Tintin film.

"He is not going to do it," Parkes noted. "He kind of had a moment of availability to do it, and the strike got in the way. We were unable to do the script work that Steven felt he needed and then, by the time the strike was over, he had already committed himself to begin production on Tintin.

"It's not inconceivable that he would come back, but for now, he's had to move on to Tintin, which is something that he's been working on for 20 years."