Lincoln rises?

In theaters Friday: Butter, Frankenweenie, Taken 2

New on Blu-ray/DVD: Dark Shadows, People Like Us, Red Lights

A lot of people are now dubious of Steven Spielberg’s upcoming historical epic Lincoln after hearing star Daniel Day-Lewis’ high, nearly whiny voice as “Honest Abe.” According to experts, Lincoln’s voice probably was closer to the Oscar-winner’s new interpretation than all those booming “Four score” baritones that proceeded it. Bill and Ted, I’m looking at you.

But I’m concerned for another reason. The first trailer makes Lincoln look like a predictable, preachy and procedural bore—one better fit for the Biography channel, not cinemas across the land. Maybe after last seeing Day-Lewis as oil-hungry prospector Daniel Plainview in P.T. Anderson’s breathtaking There Will Be Blood, I was naturally expecting something a little more left field, a little gutsier than this. Maybe I’ve just OD’d on sappy John Williams scores that spell out every emotion the viewer is supposed to feel.

I’m holding out hope for Spielberg’s film, but thankfully there is another Lincoln project in the works, one that centers on the iconic president’s youth called The Green Blade Rises (because, apparently, we need another movie titled with the word “rises” in it).

From the official synopsis: “It chronicles the hardships that shaped him, including abandonment by his father in the harsh winter wilderness, the tragedy that marked him forever and the two women who guided him to immortality, putting him on the path to becoming one of the most influential Presidents in United States history.”

Enigmatic director Terrence Malick will produce the biopic with Wes Bentley (as Lincoln’s teacher), Diane Kruger (his step-mother) and indie darling Brit Marling also set to co-star under the direction of Malick acolyte and first-time feature director A.J. Edwards. But who will land the lead role of the future president? It is unclear just how young the film is casting, but my vote who go to the quiet, lanky Kodi Smit-McPhee of The Road and Let Me In, or Joel Courtney, the wide-eyed lead of Super 8.

The Green Blade Rises is slated for production this fall with a projected release in 2013.