Aaron Sorkin's upcoming film The Trial of the Chicago 7 began production Friday and will be released in September, poising it for next year's awards season. 

Michael Keaton joins the star-studded cast as the progressive lawyer Ramsey Clark, who played an important role in the history of America's Civil Rights movement.

The film, from Paramount Pictures, Cross Creek and DreamWorks Pictures, will explore the true story of the 1969 trial of seven defendants charged with conspiracy by the federal government in the aftermath of the protests at Chicago's 1968 Democratic National Convention. It will be shot in Chicago and New Jersey.

Sorkin, who also penned the script, has assembled an all-star cast that includes William Hurt as John Mitchell as well as Frank Langella, Mark Rylance, Eddie Redmayne, Sacha Baron Cohen, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Alex Sharp, Jeremy Strong, Kelvin Harrison Jr. and J.C. MacKenzie. 

Paramount will release The Trial of the Chicago 7 in limited theaters September 25 before expanding to more theaters October 2, pushing it into the prime fall prestige movie slate.