When I read today's Variety headline about Matthew McConaughey's next project, I was briefly terrified that Steven Spielberg had ditched Liam Neeson and cast McConaughey instead in the lead role of his Abraham Lincoln biopic.

Happily for all of us, that's not remotely true, even though McConaughey will be playing a lawyer somehow inspired by our 16th President. The movie, The Lincoln Lawyer, will feature McConaughey as a defense attorney who represents a client with ties to a previous murder case the lawyer was involved in. It's based on a book by Michael Connolly, published in 2005, and original snapped up by Lakeshore Entertainment six months before the book even came out. Maybe they wanted to wait until we were all incessantly talking about Lincoln before putting the movie out there?

It's worth remembering that one of McConaughey's most notable roles was in a legal-themed drama, A Time To Kill. Is this maybe McConaughey finally ditching the endless romantic comedies and going back to what he does best? Or will Kate Hudson somehow get involved in this one too and ruin everything?