This fall is crowded with so many movies I want to see, I keep forgetting Steven Spielberg's long-in-development Abraham Lincoln movie is in the mix.  The film stars the great Daniel Day-Lewis as our 16th President, and while we had seen some set photos, the studio has now released the first official image.  Unsurprisingly, Day-Lewis easily conveys Lincoln's gravitas and thoughtfulness.  While the script is based off the great non-fiction novel by Doris Kearns Goodwin, Team of Rivals, the movie will only cover the last four months of Lincoln's life, specifically examining his attempt to close out the Civil War, and bring a permanent end to slavery.Hit the jump to check out the image and learn more about the project.  The film also stars Sally Field, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Tommy Lee Jones, James Spader, John Hawkes, Michael Stuhlbarg, David Strathairn, Walton Goggins, David Oyelowo, Tim Blake Nelson, Bruce McGill, Jackie Earle Haley, Lee Pace, and Jared Harris.  Lincoln opens November 16th.daniel-day-lewis-lincolnSpeaking to EW, Spielberg says the movie will begin with Lincoln trying to figure out how to extend the Emancipation Proclamation:

"Lincoln’s realization that the Emancipation Proclamation, the thing he is most known for, was simply a war powers act that would easily be struck down by any number of lawyers after the cessation of hostilities after the Civil War," Spielberg says. "He needed to abolish slavery by constitutional measure — and that’s where we start."

Spielberg also says that their take on the character will try to examine the qualities that made Lincoln such a remarkable leader:

"Lincoln had a very, very complicated – and at the same time, extremely clear — inner life," the director says. "He thought things out. He talked things out. He argued both sides of every issue. And he was very careful in making any decision. As a matter of fact, his opponents and his enemies criticized him often for being impossibly slow to a decision."

I was a bit disappointed with Spielberg's two films from last year, but I love the cast he's lined up for Lincoln, he's working from solid source material, and I'm hoping that this all comes together as one of 2012's better movies.