Daniel Day-Lewis to play Abraham Lincoln in Spielberg film

Daniel Day Lewis is set to play Abraham Lincoln in an upcoming biopic to be directed by Steven Spielberg.

Variety reported that the director, who first signed on for DreamWorks” “Lincoln” in 2001, has announced that Day-Lewis has signed on for the lead.

Five years ago Spielberg seemed close to bringing the film in front of cameras with Liam Neeson under the beard, but the movie was moth-balled over delays.

“Daniel Day-Lewis would have always been counted as one of the greatest of actors, were he from the silent era, the golden age of film or even some time in cinema”s distant future,” the New York Daily News quoted Spielberg as saying in a statement released by DreamWorks.

“I am grateful and inspired that our paths will finally cross with Lincoln,” he added.

The movie, based on the book ‘Team of Rivals’ by Doris Kearns Goodwin, will follow Lincoln and his cabinet through the fight for abolition and the Civil War.

‘Lincoln’ is expected to hit the screens in 2013, in time for the 150th anniversary of the Gettysburg Address.