It has been a while since we have given an update on Steven Spielberg’s planned Abraham Lincoln biopic. In that time Robert Redford has already shot his own Lincoln film The Conspirator, while Spielberg’s film, titled Lincoln hasn’t made it from off the starting block.

It now seems that Spielberg’s Lincoln project truly dead, or very close to it. This news comes from the intended star of the film Liam Neeson as he dropped the project-killing news that he would not longer be a part of it while he was in London publicizing The A-Team.

Neeson was on This Morning, a daily magazine show with director Joe Carnahan discussing his 80’s television show adaptation when he was asked about the Spielberg film. The Irish actor had this to say:

"I'm not actually playing Lincoln now. I was attached to it for a while, but it's now -  I'm past my sell-by date."

It would seem that either Neeson is just too tired of waiting for the project to get off the ground, as it was first announced in 2005 – or he wishes to work on other projects that are actually moving forward in production.

For a while it appeared that there was a chance that Lincoln might be Spielberg’s next film, alongside Harvey, but instead he opted for an adaptation of War Horse, which is currently being prepped in London and LA.

Last year, when asked about Redford’s  The Conspirator which stars James McAvoy, Evan Rachel Wood and Justin Long, Spielberg said:

“We are very happy that Redford will be doing this Lincoln movie. It is completely different from what our DreamWorks Lincoln movie will be, and we believe that it will add to the commercial potential of our film. Lincoln as a subject is inexhaustible.”

Spielberg is much like Ridley Scott in that he is often attached to a multitude of films at any one time. This coupled with his producing duties, running a studio (DreamWorks) and the fact that he is a human being means that he is only able to juggle so many films. It’s looking likely that Lincoln may have fallen into a production limbo, and without its lead actor it may be stuck there for a very long time.

Spielberg fans shouldn’t worry as he has Tintin on the way (along with the above mentioned War Horse and the in-development Indiana Jones 5.) Neeson lovers should rejoice in the knowledge that the star is interested in Taken 2 and if you really need to see him as a US president then he is set to play Lyndon B. Johnson in Lee Daniels' Selma.

If the situation with Lincoln changes, then you can read about it here at Screen Rant.

Source: Digital Spy