<Tr> <Th> Budget </Th> <Td> $50 million </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Box office </Th> <Td> $168.7 million </Td> </Tr> <P> The Post is a 2017 American historical political thriller film directed and produced by Steven Spielberg and written by Liz Hannah and Josh Singer . It stars Meryl Streep as Katharine Graham, the first female publisher of a major American newspaper, and Tom Hanks as Ben Bradlee, the executive editor of The Washington Post, with Sarah Paulson, Bob Odenkirk, Tracy Letts, Bradley Whitford, Bruce Greenwood, Carrie Coon, and Matthew Rhys in supporting roles . Set in the early 1970s, The Post depicts the true story of attempts by journalists at The Washington Post to publish the Pentagon Papers, classified documents regarding the 30 - year involvement of the United States government in the Vietnam War . </P> <P> Principal photography began in New York City in May 2017 . The film premiered at the Newseum in Washington, D.C. on December 14, 2017 and began a limited release in the United States on December 22, 2017 . It had a wide release on January 12, 2018, and has grossed $168 million worldwide . </P>

What events is the movie the post based on