Spielberg Rumor Mill Keeps Grinding
By Craig Kennedy - May 10th, 2008; 10:53 pm
According to the L.A. Times’ Sheigh Crabtree, Steven Spielberg told German magazine Focus that Chicago Seven is on the back burner and that he hopes to begin filming the oft rumored Abraham Lincoln biography in 2009 to coincide with the 16th president’s 200th anniversary.
OK, I’ve already lost interest in this story, but I’ve gone and typed it so I suppose I’ll post it.
Wake me when cameras start rolling on something.
Filed under: Rumors, Upcoming
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Why does Spielberg always seem to dish out stuff like this to the Germans? It was to a German magazine that he said Indiana Jones IV was his next movie almost two years ago, and I believe he announced his “Mossad project” to a German magazine earlier in the decade.
American magazines just aren’t good enough? :)
Schindler guilt.
Sounds good, though, I’d rather have him take on a more epic historical figure like Lincoln than something like Chicago 10, which just had a movie out anyway and seems kind of boomer-trendy in the first place.
I’ll admit that I’ve been curious about this Lincoln film for a while now. I’m glad he’s making it a priority.
Lincoln sounds dull, but I’m sure in the right hands it will be fascinating (much like HBO’s John Adams sounded about as interesting as the 24 Hour Paint Drying Channel but ended up being utterly compelling).
Lincoln is one of the few American presidents that stand out as a genuinely brilliant and charismatic individual. His times were fascinating and role within them nation shaping (for better and worse), and the man’s death was dramatic and tragic. I’m not sure how one makes a dull story about him and his circumstances. The real challenge is not presenting an overly idealized version of the man.
American directors overcommiting their schedules to new projects appears to be the new black in Hollywood. Even Speilberg is happily joining the Tarantino/Fincher cult.
I’m with Craig…wake me when cameras roll.
Though I haven’t done any research and have no evidence to support it, my theory remains that there are projects that come and go all the time in lots of director’s careers, but there are a handful of fanboy favorites that get the most attention so these guys seem flightier than average.
If a director decides to make or abandon a project and there’s no dweeb with a keyboard around to blog about it, does it really happen?
[editor's note: Craig has used the term 'dweeb with a keyboard' with all appropriate humility and irony because he is one]
I suspected Schindler guilt was a significant reason, Jeff.
I’ve seen it as Tarantino and now especially Fincher joining the Spielberg cult, Joel. Though at least with Spielberg, who’s known for being prolific, he typically actually makes the films he expresses interest in making, despite the occasional Memoirs of a Geisha.
He is kind of in a “hole” right now, though, with Tintin, Lincoln, Chicago 7 and Interstellar all on respective oven burners. Get to work! cracks Indy’s whip
My point exactly Alexander. He’s never seemed as overburdened with potential projects as he has the last year or so.
But now that I think about it, there’s another business angle to all this; it’s possible this is somehow connected to all the behind-the-scenes wrangling over Dreamworks and Speilberg’s current studio contracts. In other words, he’s announcing a lot of projects to keep irons in the fire contractually with the knowledge that all this could rapidly change should he part ways with Paramount in the event that Dreamworks leaves the Paramount fold.
Who knows? The level of power and authority Speilberg wields puts him on another level from Fincher and Tarantino…I probably shouldn’t make the connection between the three. Plus, Fincher and Tarantino have been overburdening themselves with vaporware projects for years. They’re the gold standard for blogging dweebs with keyboards (heh heh, just kidding there Craig).