Spielberg’s Pentagon Papers film, The Post, will be the next on his release slate, according to a Deadline report.

Mike Fleming Jnr reveals that while deals on the picture, which will star Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks, are still being finalised, Spielberg, Amblin and Fox are working hard to get everything sealed and commence shooting in May.

To achieve this, Spielberg has pushed back The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara, his film about a young Jewish child who was taken from his family and raised by the Catholic Church.

Mark Rylance and Oscar Isaac have already been cast, but the search is ongoing for an actor to play the eponymous boy as a child. It’s likely that’s what’s inspired Spielberg to push The Post forward, as well as the film’s relevance under the Trump administration.

The Post is now a likely contender for Oscar season 2018, and will tell the story of the Washington Post’s endeavours to publish the controversial Pentagon Papers in 1971.

Hanks will star as the newspaper’s editor Ben Bradlee and Streep as publisher Kay Graham.