stevenspielbergchronicles

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2023

On March 15, 2016, Walt Disney Studios announce a 5th Indiana Jones film to be directed by Steven Spielberg, starring Harrison Ford.

Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall are set to produce the untitled project (with Steven Spielberg serving as Executive Producer).

John Williams will compose the score.

According to an interview with David Koepp who is returning to write the first screenplay, George Lucas is not involved in the story development.

Harrison Ford tells the BBC he took the role under two conditions:

“I’ve always thought there was an opportunity to do another. But I didn’t want to do it without Steven [Spielberg]. And I didn’t want to do it without a really good script. And happily we’re working on both. Steven is developing a script now that I think we’re going to be very happy with.”

The film is originally set to premiere July, 2019. A year later, the date is moved back to 2020. 

In summer 2018, Jonathan Kasdan comes on board to write a new screenplay, so the start of principal photography (and the release date) is delayed once again. Since then other authors are brought in to work on the script (among them Dan Fogelman and, again, David Koepp). 

On February 26, 2020 Variety reports that Steven Spielberg will not direct Indiana Jones 5 (remaining as a “hands-on producer”).

James Mangold (Ford v Ferrari, 2019) takes over as director. 

On 11 March 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declares the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) to be a a pandemic. To help prevent a further outbreak, public places such as movie theaters are closed. Film studios need to change premiere dates and production schedules which also affects Indiana Jones 5.

In April 2021, Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Mads Mikkelsen join the cast alongside Harrison Ford in the title role. In July 2021, Antonio Banderas is added to the cast. 

Production finally starts in summer 2021, the US release date is June 30, 2023.

A first trailer is released on December 1, 2022, revealing the film’s title Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.

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More than 30 films, arthouse and popcorn, stories and images that inspired generations. Today, one of the most influential and successful directors of all time celebrates his 75th birthday. 

Cheers to Steven Spielberg!

High time to analyze his directorial works in an appropriate form: large format, 368 pages, multi-layered, intriguing, in-depth. From the authors of Steven Spielberg Chronicles.

One catch: The book is currently available in German language only.

Find all about what you will get, a reading sample, reader’s comments and order options here: https://stevenspielbergchroniken.de

One of our readers is director, producer and writer Joe Menendez. He sent us this message:

„Even for a long time Spielberg aficionado like myself, I’m impressed by the deeply detailed knowledge you have for his work. Always great to not only meet other admirers of Mr. Spielberg’s work, but those that enjoy analyzing and deconstructing what makes it so great.“

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2022

Spielberg realizes a long-held dream and directs The Fabelmans, a film based on his formative teenage years.

He co-writes the screenplay with Tony Kushner, who last wrote the script for West Side Story. The script is written during the COVID 19 lockdown and is completed in just two months. A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001) was the last film Spielberg also wrote the screenplay for.

Set in the 1950s and 1960s, the film's story is inspired by sometimes traumatizing memories from the director's childhood. From the point of view of Sammy, a young film enthusiast, we follow the fictional Fabelman family as they move from New Jersey to Phoenix, Arizona to California. 

At high school, he encounters anti-Semitism and learns how to compensate for his physical inferiority to his fellow students by enlisting them in his amateur films and gaining control over them through his directing, photography and editing.

The female lead, based on Spielberg's mother Leah, is played by Michelle Williams (Brokeback Mountain). The young Spielberg (Sammy in the film version) is portrayed by Gabriel LaBelle. 

Other cast members include Seth Rogen, Paul Dano and Judd Hirsch. Cult director David Lynch makes a cameo appearance as director John Ford.

Filming starts in the summer of 2021.

The crew includes longtime collaborators such as Janusz Kaminski (director of photography), Rick Carter (production design) and John Williams (score). Sarah Broshar joins the crew as film editor (along with Spielberg's long-term editor Michael Kahn).

Spielberg dedicates the film to his parents in the credits: For Leah. For Arnold. He also thanks his three sisters Anne, Sue and Nancy.

After his parents' divorce, Spielberg stuck by his mother, while his relationship with his father remained distant for a long time. Films influenced by this period include E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, Hook, Jurassic Park, Lincoln and Catch Me If You Can.

The Fabelmans has its world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival on September 10, 2022, receiving two standing ovations and winning the festival's People's Choice Award.

The film's German premiere occurs at the 73rd Berlin International Film Festival on February 21, 2023. Spielberg is awarded an Honorary Golden Bear for lifetime achievement. Selected films from his career are screened in a festival tribute.

Berlinale director duo Mariette Rissenbeek and Carlo Chatrian explain the rationale for honoring Spielberg:

"In the course of his incredible career, Steven Spielberg has not only enthralled generations of viewers around the world, but has also given new meaning to "cinema" as a dream factory. Whether it's the eternally magical world of adolescents or our reality forever shaped by history; his films transport us to another plane where the screen provides the appropriate surface to unleash our emotions."

Despite outstanding reviews, Spielberg's The Fabelmans fails to draw audiences to theatres (Spielberg’s second consecutive box-office disappointment after West Side Story). With production costs of $40 million, the film only grosses $44 million worldwide.

At the Golden Globe Awards, The Fabelmans wins in two categories:

Best Motion Picture - Drama

Best Director.

The film receives nominations for:

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama (Michelle Williams)

Best Score - Motion Picture

Best Screenplay - Motion Picture.

At the Academy Awards, the film is nominated in seven categories (winning in none of them):

Best Motion Picture of the Year

Best Achievement in Directing

Best Original Screenplay

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role (Michelle Williams)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role (Judd Hirsch)

Best Achievement in Production Design

Best Original Score.

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2021

Steven Spielberg directs a remake of the film adaptation of the Broadway musical West Side Story (directed by Robert Wise in 1961).

Inspired by William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, the story tells of two young lovers (Tony and Maria) from opposing cultural sides in 1950s New York.

Screenplay author Tony Kushner promises a film that will turn back to the original 1957 stage version and focus on “gritty” life in parts of New York City in the late 1950s.

Tony is played by Ansel Elgort (Baby Driver, 2017). For the role of Maria, 17-year-old Rachel Zegler is chosen - it’s her first film part. Other cast members are Ariana DeBose as Anita, David Alvarez as Bernardo and Josh Andrés Rivera als Chino.

Rita Moreno (she played Anita in the original film) portrays Valentina and is also executive producing.

Director Steven Spielberg comments his casting decisions:

“When we began this process a year ago, we announced that we would cast the roles of Maria, Anita, Bernardo, Chino and the Sharks with Latina and Latino actors. I’m so happy that we’ve assembled a cast that reflects the astonishing depth of talent in America’s multifaceted Hispanic community. I am in awe of the sheer force of the talent of these young performers, and I believe they’ll bring a new and electrifying energy to a magnificent musical that’s more relevant than ever.”

Spielberg joins forces with producers Kristie Macosko Krieger and Kevin McCollum, Broadway producer of the Tony Award-winning musicals Rent, In the Heights and Avenue Q and choreographer Justin Peck.

David Newman - Thomas Newman's brother - will arrange and conduct the music by composer Leonard Bernstein. He will collaborate with musical composer and texter Stephen Sondheim.

Principal photography starts in Summer 2019.

A first publicity photo is published on June 17, depicting Maria (Rachel Zegler), Tony (Ansel Elgort), The Jets (left) and The Sharks (right).

© 2019 Amblin Entertainment

Spielberg’s ambitions to direct a film musical became visible in the dance choreography of 1941 and the brilliant musical intro of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. 

On March 20, 2020, 20th Century Fox (the film’s financing and distributing studio) is purchased by Walt Disney Studios and renamed 20th Century Studios in 2020.

The original release date in U.S. theaters is December 18, 2020 - Steven Spielberg's birthday. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. release is pushed back to Dec. 10, 2021 - 60 years after the premiere of the original 1961 film.

On April 25, 2021, to coincide with the Oscars, when Rita Moreno presents the award for Best Picture, the first trailer is released.

The film receives almost universal acclaim. Reviews highlight that Spielberg has indeed succeeded in taking a fresh look at the musical classic that not only does justice to its predecessor, but surpasses it in various places.

Nevertheless, the film disappoints at the box office (partly due to the pandemic). With production costs of about $100 million, the film grosses only about $76 million worldwide, leaving Walt Disney Studios with a hefty loss. Spielberg's The BFG (2016), another Walt Disney Studios production, also failed to turn out a profit, with production costs of $140 million and high marketing expenses (worldwide box office receipts: about $199 million).

At the Golden Globe Awards, West Side Story wins in three categories:

Best Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy

Best Actress, Musical or Comedy for Rachel Zegler

Best Supporting Actress for Ariana DeBose.

Steven Spielberg is being nominated as Best Director.

At the Academy Awards, the film is nominated in seven categories:

Best Picture

Best Director

Best Supporting Actress for Ariana DeBose

Best Cinematography

Best Production Design

Best Costume Design

Best Sound.

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2020

On August 25, Arnold Spielberg dies aged 103. He is survived by his son Steven and three daughters Anne, Sue and Nancy, along with 4 stepchildren, 11 grandchildren, 8 great grandchildren, and countless adoring cousins, nieces, and nephews.

Steven Spielberg is with his father on the night of his death, according to a statement, telling him, “You are our hearth. You are our home.” Arnold Spielberg was one of Steven’s greatest inspirations.

The stories told to his son after serving as a radio operator and chief communications man for the 490th Bomb Squadron (known as the “Burma Bridge Busters”) will affect many Spielberg films - and Steven’s love for planes. He dedicates his war film Saving Private Ryan to his father and other World War II veterans.

After graduating in 1949, Arnold works on RCA’s first commercial and business computer, the RCA BIZMAC, which explains his son’s fascination with digital technology (Jurassic Park). Arnold has a craving for science fiction novels and magazines such as Amazing Stories (which inspires Amblin’s TV anthology series of the same name).

One night, Arnold Spielberg gets his son out of bed and drives him to a clearing, to show him a meteor shower. Shooting stars and watching the skies will become a “trademark” of Spielberg’s films.

In 1957, Arnold receives a special gift from his wife Leah: It is an 8mm camera which is soon grabbed by his son to create early film experiments, supported by family members and friends.

After Schindler’s List is released, Arnold Spielberg is a mentor and active supporter of the Shoah Foundation for many years.

More about Arnold’s life in the context of Steven Spielberg    

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2019

In a Comcast TV commercial, directed by Lance Acord, the little alien returns to earth and visits the house of Elliott (Henry Thomas), who is now a family man. After Steven Spielberg's E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), this is their first joint appearance.

Elliott's children discover E.T. behind a snowman on their frontyard. He learns how to surf the Internet, watch VR films or call up holiday films via voice remote control on a large flat screen. The extraterrestrial pays the children back by showing them how to fly their bicycles - only one of many nods to scenes from the original film.

"A Holiday Reunion - Xfinity 2019" premieres on November 28, 2019 (Thanksgiving) and is watched nearly 12 million times on YouTube in the first week. This version runs 4 minutes 18 seconds. Despite the considerable risk of annoying fans of the original film, the spot is well received by most viewers.

Goodby, Silverstein & Partners in San Francisco produced the spot. Steven Spielberg gave his consent and was regularly consulted during the production. The rights to the original feature film are held by Comcast subsidiary Universal Pictures.

The new E.T. is created with the help of CGI and Animatronic dolls.

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2019

After Amazing Stories, Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Television is set to produce another project for the streaming platform Apple TV+.

The mini-series Masters of the Air is based on the book of the same name by Donald L. Miller and tells the story of the fate of a group of US bomber pilots who flew air raids over Berlin, Hanover and Dresden.

Tom Hanks, who co-developed the award-winning predecessors Band of Brothers and The Pacific, will be back as executive producer. Band of Brothers author John Orloff will write the script.

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2019

Amblin’s The Trial of the Chicago 7 goes into production.

Director Aaron Sorkin (The West Wing) had already written the script in 2007 when the WGA strike resulted in a production shutdown. Steven Spielberg originally wanted to direct the film himself.

Paramount Pictures and Cross Creek are backing the financing, together with Amblin Partners. The cast is impressive: Mark Rylance, Michael Keaton, Frank Langella, Eddie Redmayne, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and others. Sasha Baron Cohen was already cast as the Chicago 7′s leader Abbie Hoffman in 2007.

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2019

Sidney Sheinberg, early mentor of Steven Spielberg, dies at 84.

In 1969 he saw much talent in 23-year-old Spielberg and offered him a 7-year contract as a television film director. Later, he urged Spielberg to take up the challenge and direct his most important film: Schindler’s List.

In a statement, Steven Spielberg says about Sidney Sheinberg’s death:

“My heart is broken at this news. For now let me just say that Sid had a big personality and a tender heart. He was the tallest most stand up guy I ever knew. He gave birth to my career and made Universalmy home. He gave me ‘Jaws,’ I gave him ‘ET’ and he gave me ‘Schindler’s List.’ We were a team for 25 years and he was my dear friend for 50. I have no concept about how to accept that Sid is gone. For the rest of my life I will owe him more than I can express.”

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2019

Stanley Donen, one of the last known directors from the Golden Hollywood ear dies at 94. He directed classics such as On the Town, Singin’ in the Rain, Funny Face, Bedazzled, Charade and Two for the Road.

Steven Spielberg says about his friend and early mentor: 

“Stanley Donen was a friend and an early mentor. His generosity in giving over so many of his weekends in the late 60’s to film students like me to learn about telling stories and placing lenses and directing actors is a time I will never forget. He co-directed what some consider the greatest Hollywood musical of all time ‘Singing In the Rain’ but when he left his partnership with Gene Kelly to go it alone he made his most compelling movies in multiple genres. ‘Charade,’ ‘Bedazzled’ and ‘Two For the Road’ were my favorites. When visiting New York I will miss not bumping into him on his daily walks and hear him talking about life and film which for Stanley were inseparable.”

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2018

Frank Marshall and Kathleen Kennedy receive the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award at the 2018 Governors Awards on Sunday, November 18, 2018, in Hollywood. Steven Spielberg presents the award to them.

Kathleen Kennedy is the first woman to receive this award.

Spielberg was among the recipients in 1986.

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2018

Steven Spielberg and The Post actors Meryl Streep und Tom Hanks voice their support for a future US president Oprah Winfrey.

Winfrey and Spielberg know each other from The Color Purple in which she played Sofia spielte and was nominated for an Academy Award.

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2018 Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of Ernest Cline’s best-selling novel Ready Player One is his first foray into the realms of science fiction since War of the Worlds (2005) and the first Steven Spielberg-directed film project for Warner Bros. since A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001).

Set in the year 2045, the dystopian story unfolds in a massive multiplayer online role-playing game called The OASIS (Ontologically Anthropocentric Sensory Immersive Simulation), a fake utopia that most people on the world come to prefer to the harsh reality of their lives. Young Wade Watts (or Parzival as he is known in The OASIS), is devoted to the game, and manages to unlock the first clue to a contest that promises the winner control of The OASIS and the massive fortune of the games’ creator, James Donovan Halliday. Parzival has to compete against an armada of egghunters (”gunters”) who try to find Halliday’s “easter eggs”.

The story is filled with references to the 1980s - including films produced or directed by Steven Spielberg. However, Spielberg decides to remove most of those film references from the script:

I love the ‘80s, and I think one of the reasons I decided to make the movie was that it brought me back to the 1980s and let me do anything I want – except for my own movies. I’ve cut most of my movies out of Ernie [Cline]’s book, except for the Delorean and a couple of other things that I had something to do with. I’ve cut a lot of my own references out. I was very happy to see that there was enough without me! The ‘80s was a great time to grow up.

Mark Rylance plays James Donovan Halliday (for this part, actors such as Gene Wilder and Michael Keaton were originally considered). Incidentally, James Donovan was the name of Tom Hanks’s character in Bridge of Spies (2015) which marked the first collaboration between Rylance and Steven Spielberg.

The cast includes Olivia Cooke as Samantha Evelyn Cook / Art3mis, Ben Mendelsohn as the villain and Nolan Sorrento, and Simon Pegg as Ogden Morrow, co-creator of The OASIS. T.J. Miller plays i-R0k and Win Morisaki portrays one of the "High Five“ gunters, Daito. His pal Shoto is played by Philip Zhao. Aech is portrayed by Lena Waithe.

Following an open casting call, 19-year-old Tye Sheridan is selected for the lead part Wade Watts. For his debut in Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life (2011), Sheridan was chosen from a field of 10,000 boys to play the youngest son of Jessica Chastain and Brad Pitt.

During pre-production, Tye Sheridan tells Variety:

“It’s a new spin on cinema. A good third of the film takes place in a virtual realm inside a video game. What I love about the film is that it plays with some metaphorically bigger themes. I think it’s going to be a milestone for cinema in its advancements and exploration of virtual reality. I couldn’t be more excited and grateful to be a part of it.”

In a high six-figure upfront deal, the film rights to Ready Player One are purchased by Warner Bros. the same day Ernest Cline finalizes his publishing deal with Random House, one year prior to his debut novel’s publication.

Ernest Cline adapts his own novel into a screenplay, with Zak Penn sharing screenplay credits. Zak Penn‘s story credits include The Avengers (2012).

Adam Stockhausen who worked for Bridge of Spies (2015) returns as Production Designer. Another Bridge of Spies crew member, Kasia Walicka-Maimone, designs the costumes. Other regular Spielberg-collaborators include Producer Kristie Macosko Krieger, Director of Photography Janusz Kamiński, and Editor Michael Kahn. 

John Williams does not compose the score (due to scheduling conflicts with his compositions for Spielberg’s Pentagon Papers film and Star Wars VIII). He is replaced by Back To The Future composer Alan Silvestri.

Principal photography starts at Leavesden Studios in London at the end of June 2016. Exterior scenes (involving battered vehicles in dystopian Ohio) are shot in the Digbeth district of Birmingham.

Set photos: © Tom Cullen, I Choose Birmingham

At a special Comic-Con event on July 22 2017, the first teaser trailer is released:

Avoiding a box office battle with Star Wars: Episode VIII, the release date is moved to March 29, 2018. Warner Bros. reacts after Disney shifted Star Wars VIII from May 2017 to Dec. 15.

On March 11, 2018, Ready Player One has its world premiere at the South by Southwest (SXSW)  in Austin, Texas and is greeted with enthusiastic audience acclaim. Reviews are generally favorable, though not all of the critics (and audiences) like the significant changes to the novel. On the other hand, Spielberg’s hommage to Kubrick is groundbreaking.

The film is made on a production budget of $175 million (plus marketing cost of about $150 million) but eventually brings in a multi million dollar profit. After three weeks, the film grosses more than $126 million at the U.S. boxoffice. Including international business, Ready Player One grosses more than $520 million (as of April 24, 2018).

The film receives an Academy Award nomination in the category ‘Best Visual Effects’.

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2017 Steven Spielberg’s The Post is based on true events in the early 1970s, starring Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks.The Washington Post publisher Kay Graham and editor Ben Bradlee fight for their right to publish the Pentagon Papers which will get the US president into trouble.

Supporting roles are played by Sarah Paulson, Bob Odenkirk, Matthew Rhys, Bradley Whitford, Carrie Coon, Jesse Plemons, David Cross, Alison Brie, Bruce Greenwood, Tracy Letts, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Zach Woods.

The screenplay is written by Liz Hannah. Principal photography begins May 30, 2017 (to be completed for this year’s awards season).

The trailer is released on November 7.

Production for another Spielberg-directed film, The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara, (originally slated for spring 2017) is delayed indefinitely - while the open casting call for a child actor who will play the title role continues. 

Spielberg’s decision to move forward with The Post is undoubtedly influenced by the Trump administration’s attacks on free speech and the press. At the same time, Spielberg fulfills his long-standing wish to work with Meryl Streep (she had a voice cameo in A.I. - Artificial Intelligence).

Photo: Niko Tavernise

[stevenspielbergchronicles]

2017

Apple collaborates with Steven Spielberg's Amblin Television. The agreement between Apple, Amblin and Universal Television calls for 10 episodes for a reboot of the tv anthology series Amazing Stories.

The first 5 episodes of the series are set to debut March 6, 2020 on Apple TV+.

Plans for an Amazing Stories reboot go back to 2015.

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2017

Steven Spielberg’s nearly 50-year career is portrayed in a documentary feature directed and produced by Susan Lacy (American Masters).

The documentary Spielberg (160 min.) airs Oct. 7 on HBO. It is based on more than 30 hours of interviews with the filmmaker.

Friends and collaborators contribute insights on Spielberg, among them: J.J. Abrams, Christian Bale, Drew Barrymore, Cate Blanchett, Francis Ford Coppola, Daniel Craig, Daniel Day-Lewis, Brian de Palma, Laura Dern, Leonardo DiCaprio, Richard Dreyfuss, Ralph Fiennes, Harrison Ford, David Geffen, Tom Hanks, Dustin Hoffman, Holly Hunter, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Ben Kingsley, Kathleen Kennedy, George Lucas, Liam Neeson, Martin Scorsese, Oprah Winfrey, and Robert Zemeckis.

The premiere of Spielberg is held at Paramount Studios (Lansing Theater), Los Angeles, on September 26. Tom Hanks, Vin Diesel, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Martin Short, Quincy Jones and many others attend.

Spielberg explains his involvement in the documentary:

"I don't look back. I make movies and I work a lot and I look forward all the time. I don't often look back. Maybe when I'm showing my grandkids E.T. for the first time, but otherwise I don't spend a lot of time looking back on my films, and this forced me to look back and I got a good hard look at it and I was very proud of a lot of what I looked back upon and other things I wasn't as proud of, but I think it was a very honest accounting of the body of work so far."

"When I realized that [director Susan Lacy] was an explorer and not an exploiter, I realized that the time maybe had come in my life where I can consciously agree to cooperate in a film about my career."

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2017 Horror film director Tobe Hooper dies at 74. His Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1978) inspired and changed the horror film genre. He could not continue this great success with his later films, among them Lifeforce (1985).

Hooper’s artistic influence on the Steven Spielberg-produced film Poltergeist (1982) can be felt in many sequences. However, cast and crew members claimed the primary director was Spielberg.

In 2002, Hooper was hired by Spielberg for his TV miniseries Taken.