Written by Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub 

As Cal wrote about yesterday, Ben Stiller is now the leading candidate to direct Aaron Sorkin’s script of "The Trial of the Chicago 7." While Steven Spielberg was originally going to take the helm, it now seems that he’s officially moved on as DreamWorks is clearly shopping the project to other directors.

While having Ben Stiller come on board is a big surprise to most of us, I think he’s a great choice as all of the films he’s directed have been solid…with his recent comedy "Tropic Thunder" being incredible. While dealing with material such as "The Trial of the Chicago 7" is a huge departure, I think he’s ready for the jump to drama and I would love to see him try it.

Anyway, Erico from Omelete interviewed Ben earlier today as part of the "Madagascar 2" junket and he asked Ben about the rumor and also about whether Robert Downey Jr. should be nominated for his awesome work in Tropic Thunder. Take a look.