Is the Lincoln Movie Really Going to Happen?

Cross posted from The Eleventh Hour

I was watching the rebroadcast of a presentation of The Lincoln Family Album on C-SPAN last night. It featured Liam Neeson reading as Abe Lincoln and the magnificent Holly Hunter taking the part of Mary Todd Lincoln. It was a great presentation and got me wondering about the status of the movie about Lincoln that is being made by Steven Spielberg. I hit the internet and to my surprise I found this:

Jeff Wells from over at "Hollywood Elsewhere" recently dropped a surprising bit of news regarding Steven Spielberg’s upcoming Abraham Lincoln biopic which was supposed to start filming immediately following MUNICH with Liam Neeson in the title role. Here's what Wells had to say:

"I spoke to Liam Neeson twice last summer at a couple of post-movie-premiere parties, and he said that the plan was for Steven Spielberg's Abraham Lincoln movie, in which he'll play the title role, to start shooting sometime around March '06. Forget it -- Spielberg's spokesperson Marvin Levy told me yesterday the Lincoln project (which will be based in part upon Doris Kearns Goodwin's recently published book about Lincoln) won't roll anytime soon and is basically up in the air."

Well, if true, that really sucks. To make matters worse, the piece linked to above indicates Spielberg may be forsaking Lincoln for…Indiana Jones IV! Spielberg seems to confirm this here. Maybe Indy will cross paths with Rocky – in the nursing home. Mr. Spielberg, what are you thinking? Illinois tourism was counting on you.