Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep to star in new Pentagon Papers film The Post

Oscar winners Tom Hanks (left) and Meryl Streep are joining forces for a new drama about the fourth estate called The Post. PHOTOS: REUTERS, AFP

WASHINGTON (WASHINGTON POST) - With journalism and "The Hollywood elite" consistently drawing ire from the Trump White House, it is no surprise that the two would eventually team up.

Oscar winners Tom Hanks, Meryl Streep and Steven Spielberg are joining forces for a new drama about the fourth estate called The Post, which chronicles The Washington Post's legal battle to publish the classified Pentagon Papers in 1971. Spielberg will direct.

Hanks will play the Post's larger-than-life executive editor Ben Bradlee and Streep will play Katharine Graham, the newspaper's publisher, according to Deadline.

Details of the film have been kept under wraps since it was bought by former Sony Picture co-chair Amy Pascal's new production company in October.

The movie's existence is news to Katharine Weymouth, Graham's granddaughter and the former publisher of The Post, but the media scion said the timing is on point.

"It's incredibly timely in many ways," said Weymouth. "With the media under attack, I think everybody has thought about it in a new light and realises the importance of the people out there reporting on the facts."

"One of the really interesting things about the Pentagon Papers," she continued, "is the combination of The Post being both a mission as well as a business."

Graham, the first woman to lead a Fortune 500 company, made the decision to publish the papers against her lawyers' advice, said Weymouth.

"It was arguably not a good business decision, it was about the mission in the face of a lot of contrary advice and I think that's why it's such a great story," she added.

So what advice would Graham's grand-daughter give to the three-time Oscar winner on the verge of stepping into Kay Graham's shoes?

"My guess is she will approach like she approaches any role. She'll do her homework," said Weymouth, who did add that Graham's 1997 memoir, Personal History, would be a good start.

"It's so my grandmother's voice. I can hear it when I read it."

"I think my grandmother would be incredibly flattered that Meryl Streep was playing her. Who wouldn't be?"

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