Spielberg's been developing the movie for years, long enough that his original leading man, Liam Neeson, eventually departed Lincoln.  Even with principal photography on the film finally completed, we haven't known just when it would actually arrive in theaters.

Now we know.  Disney and DreamWorks have officially set Lincoln to begin a limited release this November 9th, after which it will expand nationwide a week later, on Friday, November 16th.

The historical feature's limited release kicks off the very same day that the next James Bond adventure, Skyfall, and a prestige Leo Tolstoy adaptation Anna Karenina.  When Lincoln goes national, however, will be in the commercial shadow of The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2, but it will provide a gravtias-filled alternative to the final installment of the sparkly vampire franchise.

The film isn't a comprehensive biopic chronicling Abraham Lincoln's entire life.  Instead, it focuses on a period in the middle of the Civil War.  It's a partial adaptation of the masterful book Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Doris Kearns Goodwin.  Another Pulitzerwinner, Angels in America playwright and Munich co-writer Tony Kushner, is a contributor to the screenplay.

With Daniel Day-Lewis providing what is doubtless a comprehensively researched take on Lincoln, the film boasts a staggering ensemble cast.  Sally Field plays Mary Todd Lincoln, while Joseph Gordon-Levitt lends support as Robert Todd Lincoln, Jared Harris plays Ulysses S. Grant, David Strathairn appears as William Seward, and John Hawkes plays Robert Latham.  Also included in the cast are Lee Pace, Hal Holbrook, David Oyelowo, Joseph Cross, Tim Blake Nelson, Tommy Lee Jones, Bruce McGill, James Spader, and Walton Goggins.