Steven Spielberg lands Oscar Isaac for The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

We're going to see Oscar Isaac in a Steven Spielberg. 

I'm excited at that prospect alone, details be damned. But for those of you who want a little more information, let me fill you in. 

Isaac is in talks to join the cast of Spielberg's THE KIDNAPPING OF EDGARDO MORTARA, which depicts the real-life case of a young Jewish boy in 1858 Italy who is secretly baptized and then taken from his family to be raised as a Christian. His parents fight to free their son, creating a larger scale battle between the Papacy and the unification of Italy. Mark Rylance – a new Spielberg favorite – will also star, as he is set to play Pope Pius IX, who refused the parents' pleas for their child's return. 

Isaac's role is, at this moment, unknown. 

THE KIDNAPPING OF EDGARDO MORTARA will head into production in early 2017, working off Tony Kushner's script. It'll be his next project following READY PLAYER ONE, which means he probably wouldn't get into INDIANA JONES 5 until sometime after that.