Ahoy, squirts! Quint here with an update from the man himself... via a kind of snarky article from Fox News (surprise surprise). Steven Spielberg chatted up a lot of press around the Oscars, where his Munich got totally left out in the cold (a travesty in my opinion). He spilled information on INDIANA JONES... It's tough to tell because in this same article they claim he's taking a year off, but then they go on to say that he'll be prepping LINCOLN this year. Now, that's not to say they are incorrect (he did say he's not shooting a movie in 2006), it's just a bit misleading. He'll have LINCOLN and INDIANA JONES 4 going through all sorts of preproduction and fine tuning this year, all under his watchful eye, I'm sure. Also don't forget, he's producing the TRANSFORMERS film this year as well and word 'round the campfire is he's going to be pretty hands on with that project.
The big bit of info spilled involves Spielberg bringing in David Koepp to be his "closer" on the INDIANA JONES deal, to push it that extra little bit. I don't have an automatic hatred for the man... in fact, I think his work on WAR OF THE WORLDS was fantastic and I really love STIR OF ECHOES.
After seeing the one/two punch of WAR OF THE WORLDS and MUNICH, I am convinced that now is the time for Spielberg to do INDY 4 if he's going to do it at all. There's a feeling of classic Spielberg, a sort of timeless, effortless feeling of pure cinema that those two films exude. The framing, the lighting, the pacing... I think he's primed for INDY 4, come full circle. That might just be me, but that's what I think. Anyway, here's "Lott" with the heads up and all the juicy details. Enjoy!!
Hey Quint. Call me Lott if you use this info...
from FoxNews.com, Steven Spielberg says he's got David Koepp (Noooo!!!) working on Indy 4 now. Dunno bout you, but me no likey this new development. He also dishes out a very small, but undeniable, jab at George Lucas. Enjoy:
"Munich" director Steven Spielberg will take a year off from moviemaking, he told me last night at the Academy Governor’s Ball.
He deserves it: between November 2004 and October 2005 he produced and directed both "War of the Worlds" and "Munich."
(Hello! What did any of us do in that time period?)
Spielberg and his sensational knockout actress wife Kate Capshaw very happily attended the Governor’s Ball and the top top top A-list Vanity Fair party at Morton’s afterward, even though "Munich" — my personal choice for Best Picture this year — received nothing.
During my long talk with the most successful and honored film director in motion picture history, Spielberg told me a couple of things. For one, he expects that it will take two years before "Munich" makes its money back. It’s among his lowest grossing films, including "Amistad," "1941" and "Always."
“But it doesn’t matter,” he said. “I didn’t make it for the money.” He’s very happy with the finished product, also.
Right now, he does not have a project on the front burner, a big change for a man who does sometimes make two feature films in a year.
His main work in 2006 will be preparing his Abraham Lincoln film with award-winning author Doris Kearns Goodwin, and acting as a producer, not director, on several other smaller projects.
I asked him about "Indiana Jones 4." What’s up?
I said: “George Lucas told me recently that there’s a script and he’s happy with the story.”
Spielberg: “George Lucas isn’t the director. I am.”
You may recall that in this space on Dec. 6, 2005, I wrote that Lucas said he had a script by Jeff Nathanson, who wrote Spielberg’s "Catch Me If You Can" and "The Terminal," as well as Bret Ratner’s "Rush Hour" movies. But even Nathanson seems to have been succeeded in the Indy sweepstakes.
“I have David Koepp on it now, and he’s my ‘closer,'” Spielberg said, using a baseball reference to the pitcher who comes in during the 9th inning and finishes up a winning ball game (New Yorkers automatically think: Mariano Rivera, Goose Gossage, Sparky Lyle, Dave Righetti).
“He wrote 'Spider-Man' and 'War of the Worlds,'” Spielberg said, “so he’ll get it done.”
Koepp ("Mission: Impossible," "Carlito’s Way," "Jurassic Park") also wrote “Zathura,” a current total bust that looks like it will lose millions for Sony, but hey, no one’s perfect.
