Paul Giamatti, Jacki Weaver, and Billy Bob Thornton join JFK drama 'Parkland'

Movies surrounding the events of John F. Kennedy's assassination continue to be fertile ground for filmmakers, and that isn't likely to change any time soon. Although I'm happy to see that for the most part they've gotten away from focusing on conspiracy theories and the other political nastiness going on at the time. Tom Hanks has his own JFK film lined up which explores it from yet another angle, and he's gathered a incredible group to star in it.

Hanks will produce Parkland, which follows the chaotic events at Parkland Hospital the day Kennedy was shot in Dallas, TX.  Paul Giamatti, Jacki Weaver, and Billy Bob Thornton are the first to sign on, although their roles are unclear at this point. The script comes from Peter Landesman, who will also make his directorial debut, adapting Vincent Bugliosi's novel Reclaiming History: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

The plan is to have this ready for 2013, around the 50th anniversary of the Kennedy Assassination. Filming will take place in Austin, TX.