Netflix Buys Aaron Sorkin’s ‘The Trial Of Chicago 7’ For $56 Million

Studios are quite clearly panicking at the moment, which means streaming platforms such as Netflix are trying to take advantage of that panic by buying up 2020 releases. After all is said and done, we might have to call next year’s Oscars, the Netflix awards.

According to Deadline, the streaming giant has bought Aaron Sorkin‘s “The Trial of the Chicago 7,” from Paramount Pictures in a reported $56 million deal. Netflix hopes that ‘Chicago 7’ can be released this year ahead of the presidential election in November. Paramount was originally planning to release Sorkin’s film on September 25, before going wide on October 16.

“The Trial of the Chicago 7,” written and directed by Aaron Sorkin, is the true story of a group of seven activists that were charged by the federal government with inciting a riot stemming from anti-Vietnam War protests during the 1968 Democratic National Convention.

The film’s cast includes Sacha Baron Cohen, Eddie Redmayne, Jeremy Strong, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Frank Langella, William Hurt, Michael Keaton, and Mark Rylance.

And so, after the critical-acclaim of Spike Lee‘s “Da 5 Bloods,” Netflix is about to have a supercharged fall with David Fincher‘s “Mank,” Charlies Kaufman’s “I’m Thinking of Ending Things,” Ramin Bahrani’s “White Tiger,” Ron Howard’s “Hillbilly Elegy,” Ben Wheatley’s “Rebecca,” and George C. Wolfe’s “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.”