Tobey a Crusader

Less than 24 hours after learning that Tobey Maguire is no longer the king of the box-office, we finally get some word on Maguire’s first post-SPIDER-MAN trilogy project. Maguire will star in THE CRUSADERS, a Universal drama about the landmark Brown v. Board of Education case that ended segregation in schools. Tobey would play Jack Greenberg, a young lawyer who teams up with Thurgood Marshall (now a Supreme Court Justice) to take the case of young Linda Brown who was forced to walk six blocks to get bussed to a school over a mile away while a “white school” was just seven blocks from her home (though there were thirteen plaintiffs in total, Brown was selected because he was a pastor and, lawyers felt, more sympathetic). Danny Strong (“Recount”) is writing the film for director Gary Ross who previously worked with Maguire on PLEASANTVILLE and SEABISCUIT (coincidentally Strong also had a brief appearance in SEABISCUIT). CRUSADERS could be Ross’ next after he finishes THE FREE STATE OF JONES.