It’s been in the news that Daniel Day-Lewis will star as Abraham Lincoln in Spielberg’s long-gestating Lincoln.  The announcement came Friday and Day-Lewis was in Illinois Saturday as part of his research into the life of Lincoln.

This will be the first time the two artists have ever worked together. Spielberg told Variety, “Daniel Day-Lewis would have always been counted as one of the greatest of actors, were he from the silent era, the golden age of film or even some time in cinema’s distant future,” Spielberg said in a statement. “I am grateful and inspired that our paths will finally cross with Lincoln.”

The movie is based on the 2005 book “Team of Rivals” by Doris Kearns Goodwin with the adaptation by Tony Kushner, and of course Spielberg will direct and Kathleen Kennedy will produce.

The story centers on the political collision of Lincoln and the powerful men of his cabinet while on the road to abolition and the end of the Civil War. Filming is expected to begin next fall for release in the late part of 2012.

“Team of Rivals” centers on Lincoln’s presidency between 1861 and 1865 with a focus on the three Cabinet members who ran against Lincoln in the 1860 election — Edward Bates (Attorney General), Salmon Chase (Secretary of the Treasury) and William H. Seward (Secretary of State) — and Lincoln’s ability to deal effectively with the profound political and personal conflicts during the Civil War.

Friday’s announcement of the “Lincoln” project coincides with the anniversary of Lincoln delivering the Gettysburg Address in 1863 at the dedication of a new cemetery to honor the soldiers who perished in the battle.