With movie theaters around the globe still partially or fully closed, more and more movies are making the move to streaming for distribution. The latest one may be Aaron Sorkin‘s “The Trial of the Chicago 7,” as Netflix is negotiating a deal to acquire the film’s distribution rights from Paramount Pictures.
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The report comes from Variety, with news that Netflix may add yet another awards contender to its slate, after the streaming giant just recently debuted Spike Lee‘s “Da 5 Bloods” to critical acclaim. According to the report, the hope is that “The Trial of the Chicago 7” can be released this year ahead of the presidential election in November. Paramount was originally planning to release the film this September 25, before going wide on October 16, in time for the election.
The biggest issue with the change in distribution is that the foreign rights to the film were already pre-sold. Netflix is known to want to control global rights to their movies, and according to Variety, it is still possible that the entire domestic deal falls apart if Netflix isn’t able to unwind the established foreign distribution deals.
If the deal goes through, Netflix would add another contender for awards next year. The streaming giant already has several awards hopefuls set to be released in 2020, including David Fincher‘s “Mank,” Ramin Bahrani’s “White Tiger,” Ron Howard’s “Hillbilly Elegy,” and George C. Wolfe’s “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.”
“The Trial of the Chicago 7” follows the true story of a group of seven activists charged by the federal government with conspiracy and inciting a riot stemming from anti-Vietnam War protests during the 1968 Democratic National Convention.
The film has a star-studded cast including Sacha Baron Cohen, Eddie Redmayne, Jeremy Strong, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Frank Langella, William Hurt, Michael Keaton, and Mark Rylance. Aaron Sorkin directed and wrote the film.