Thursday, August 7, 2008

4 Upcoming Projects from Mr. Spielberg

Movies
He is America's favorite director, and easily the most well-known filmmaker in the world. Love him or hate him, his influence on our pop culture is undeniable. He is Steven Spielberg. 2008 has been an up-and-down year for Mr. Spielberg. In February, he pulled out of his role as an artistic advisor for the Olympics Opening Ceremony, because of China's support for the Sudanese regime. Then, of course, there was the fiasco that was The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. But we have not lost faith in our favorite son. So for those of us who have been waiting with bated breath for Steven's next triumph, here are the candidates, according to that great resource, imdb.com:

1. Tintin (2009) "pre-production"
The Belgian children's comic - dripping with suspense and intrigue - was simply destined for the big screen. Word is that it will be animated using live-action capture technology, though I think watching a straight Spielberg live-action take would be a thrilling experience. These studios try to make their animation too real as their top priority, and it seems to take some of the magic away from it. And Tintin was definitely fantasy for us little kids who weren't really in to the fantasy genre. Steven Moffat - creator of the funniest sitcom of the last 10 years, "Coupling" - is rumored to be writing the screenplay.

2. Interstellar (2009) "announced"
Mr. Spielberg's next foray into science fiction (his home turf) will focus on the theories of American physicist Kip Thorne, according to imdb. From what I could find out online, Thorne is one of the foremost experts on Einstein's theory of relativity, and a lot of his research has to do with black holes, so a sci-fi writer could definitely go crazy with that. And it looks like that writer might be Jonathan Nolan, kid brother to Batman director Christopher Nolan. Jonathan already shares writing credits on his big brother's films The Dark Knight, The Prestige, and Memento. I know that will make some sci-fi buffs drool.

3. Trial of the Chicago 7 (2009) "in-production" UPDATED!!
Just as I was writing this passage, this story broke from British entertainment site digitalspy. Mr. Spielberg has decided for the moment to pull out of this project about the 1968 riots at the Democratic National Convention and their aftermath. This would have been Spielberg's first production with the immensely-talented political screenwriter Aaron Sorkin of "West Wing" and A Few Good Men fame. Hopefully they will get the chance to work together in the future, because I can't imagine a combination like that creating anything but screen gold.

4. Lincoln (2010) "announced"
Mr. Spielberg's much-anticipated biopic on the 16th US President may be ready to shoot as early as next year, according to imdb. Liam Neeson is rumored to play the leading role, and would be an absolutely inspired choice (he certainly has the height for it!). The film, if it is made, will undoubtedly be controversial; and it may be a huge success, if Spielberg can manage that magic touch of excitement he is always able to add to his historical epics.

So which of these films will you be rushing out to see? C'mon, you know you want to comment.

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