steven spielberg

Given how much space physical media takes up, it’s hard for movie buffs to say no to the great promise of “cloud storage,” and the idea that we could summon anything we want to watch with just a couple of clicks. But so far, reality hasn’t matched the hype. Streaming services have been focused on exclusives and original programming, to the extent that the only way to have access to everything available is to spend hundreds of dollars a month on subscription fees. Meanwhile, older films keep disappearing from the digital archives; and even items that cinephiles “own” sometimes become inaccessible whenever software updates or a site shutters.

It’s pretty well known that Steven Spielberg was a major force (h’yuck) in getting J.J. Abrams the assignment directing Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Lucasfilm wanted a director. Spielberg wanted Abrams to get the gig. “I brought J.J.’s name up,” he said in a roundtable interview with The Hollywood Reporter. “I thought J.J. would be the best person to direct Episode VII and I called J.J. and said ‘Would you do it if it was offered to you?’” Abrams was initially reluctant (he thought his wife wouldn’t want him to take any more time-consuming franchise gigs), so Spielberg actually took Abrams and his wife Katie out to dinner on Lucasfilm’s behalf, asked Katie if it was cool if J.J. directed Star Wars, and basically made a Love Connection of the whole thing. The rest was history.

Everyone knows that Indiana Jones took his name from the family dog. But did you know that the man who played Indy’s dad, Sean Connery is only 12 years older than Harrison Ford? Despite the relative closeness of their ages, director Steven Spielberg and producer George Lucas couldn’t imagine anyone but James Bond playing the father of Indiana Jones. That’s just one of the Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade facts featured in this new episode of You Think You Know Movies!

Ready Player One, Ernest Cline’s virtual reality dystopia, is getting the film adaptation treatment from Steven Spielberg, and he’s currently shooting it in London. The book takes place in the near future of 2044, and tells of an energy crisis that has forced most people to turn to OASIS, a VR game complete with chunky goggles, as a form of escape from their harsh reality.

In recent years, Steven Spielberg has oscillated between two kinds of movies. He makes big broad adventure and fantasy films in the style of the classic blockbusters that built his reputation (Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, The Adventures of Tintin, The BFG) and more serious historical films about people shaping crucial world events (Munich, Lincoln, Bridge of Spies). With Ready Player One and Indiana Jones 5 already on the horizon, Spielberg will need some more historical material to maintain that balance.

Not that Lucasfilm would get anyone else to score new Star Wars and Indiana Jones sequels as long as John Williams is still around, but just in case there was any doubt, Steven Spielberg has officially confirmed the legendary composer’s return for both franchises. The director’s announcement appropriately took place during last night’s AFI tribute to Williams, who received a Lifetime Achievement Award for his contributions to cinema.

When the Indiana Jones 5 news broke, my immediate question was who Steven Spielberg was going to hire to write the script. With George Lucas seemingly out of the picture (his name was nowhere to be found in the announcement), having a solid writer on board to work on a script would seem to be the most important first step...

Last week, we took note of a new business venture called Screening Room spearheaded by Napster founder Sean Parker. The proposed service would digitally stream the latest major-studio theatrical releases into the confines of private American homes for a hefty estimated fee of $50 on the same day as in-theater premieres, rendering a trip to the local cineplex less necessary than ever. Naturally, this radical new strategy would change the entire face of the industry, and has accordingly raised hackles on the production, distribution, and exhibition sides of Hollywood. As movie theaters struggle to stay relevant and profitable, Parker’s every press conference sounds like a death knell. And this weekend, both sides of this instantly contentious debate dug in their heels on their positions.

Since making his debut in Tree of Life, Tye Sheridan has rapidly ascended the list of the most talented young actors to watch. And if you thought his upcoming role as Cyclops in X-Men: Apocalypse was going to put him at the top of that list, you may have been right, as Sheridan has signed on for another potentially major blockbuster, landing the leading role in Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of Ready Player One.

It must be the witching hour because The BFG has arrived!

In October 1984, when Back to the Future would’ve been in early-development stages, a producer gave a friendly suggestion to remedy one of the biggest flaws in the project. The script was “terrific”, everything was fine, but that title. Wouldn’t something along the lines of Space Man from Pluto have a smoother flow, make more sense to audiences, and convey what the movie’s actually about much more succinctly?

After three years, here’s Steven Spielberg’s follow-up to Lincoln: Another historical drama about freedom and law and essential American values.