This is big stuff: DreamWorks has just sent out a press release announcing that Daniel Day-Lewis will star as Abraham Lincoln in Steven Spielberg‘s long-planned and oft-delayed Lincoln.

Read the full press release after the break.

Looks like Robopocalypse won’t be Steven Spielberg’s next film after Tintin and War Horse. Robopocalypse is scheduled to shoot in 2012, and the shoot will follow Lincoln, which is set to shoot in fall 2011 for a fourth-quarter 2012 release date. Talk of the 85th Academy Awards ceremony in 2013 officially begins now with the powerhouse pairing of Spielberg and DDL.

Liam Neeson was long attached to topline Lincoln, but finally dropped out in July, saying that he’s past his sell-by date, implying that he is too old to play the figure. The casting of Daniel Day-Lewis should please just about everyone, however. It’s an exciting choice for the film. And this is great news for fans of the director; after a couple years in which it seemed he was struggling to get a film financed he’s now in a position to have four rapid-fire releases from 2011 to 2013.

Here’s the full release: