HOME TRAILERS 2013 SCHEDULE PODCASTS REVIEWS POSTERS INTERVIEWS SHORT FILMS NEWS FEEDS ABOUT APPS

LATEST NEWS

Spielberg Picks the WWI Project 'War Horse' as His Next Movie

by Ethan Anderton
May 3, 2010

After years of speculation surrounding Robopocalypse, a George Gershwin biopic with Zach Quinto, and a short affair with a remake of the Jimmy Stewart flick Harvey, Variety reports that the legendary Steven Spielberg has chosen the adaptation of Michael Morpurgo's 1982 novel War Horse, which he's been attached to since December, as his next film. The book tells the epic tale of a friendship between a boy and his horse, who become separated but continue to be intertwined as they try to survive the horrors of WWI. Sounds a bit more low key than his most recent (but still forthcoming) work on The Adventures of Tintin.

The last film we saw from Spielberg was the fourth Indiana Jones, Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, so he's poised to make a return to the top of his game with War Horse. While I would've preferred to see him return to some sort of big budget sci-fi flick like Robopocalypse or even the sparsely mentioned Interstellar, really I'm excited for Steven Spielberg to be directing anything, even if it's not sci-fi. For a little more detail on this forthcoming emotional period drama, here's a better synopsis of the story from the novel:

In 1914, Joey, a beautiful bay-red foal with a distinctive cross on his nose, is sold to the army and thrust into the midst of the war on the Western Front. With his officer, he charges toward the enemy, witnessing the horror of the battles in France. But even in the desolation of the trenches, Joey's courage touches the soldiers around him and he is able to find warmth and hope. But his heart aches for Albert, the farmer's son he left behind. Will he ever see his true master again?

Disney and DreamWorks have already set a late August 10th, 2011 release date for Spielberg's War Horse next year, which means things will get going very soon. Of course, we know from films like Saving Private Ryan and Schindler's List that Spielberg is certainly an expert on drama set around a war, which is exactly what this is. As I understand, War Horse is quite the moving tale, and will feature the kind of hard-hitting drama Spielberg hasn't taken on since 2005's Munich. Anyway, any new Spielberg flick is right at the top of my most anticipated list, so stay tuned as this project is sure to start casting right away. Your thoughts?

Filed under Hype, Movie News, Opinions

From around the web:

jonny b

what happened to the Lincoln movie?
KING

nice, i'd see anything with spielberg attached to it practically
SlashBeast

I think Spielberg is taking more of a breather movie to brush-up before those bigger projects. Not that it'll be bad or anything. Lincoln or Interstellar would be massive, exhaustive undertakings. Anyway, I'm glad to see Spielberg directing again.
Governor

I think the project is more close to his other WW2 drama Empire of the Sun.
shadow

Love the concept, will definitely will be seeing this one. I bet he's gonna make this horse a movie icon.
http://movies.iconocritic.com peloquin

After his horrendous attempt at sci-fi with KOTCS I'm glad he's returning to a war drama...he's the king of that genre in my book.
Dad

I really wanted to see Interstellar happen sooner than later. With Johnathan Nolan writing the script it would sure be a good flick!
People's Champ

I'm sure I'll check it out.
Candy Castle

Nice to see him finally picking a project and make an other movie.
Dan W

Eh. I love Spielberg, but I'm not a fan of horses or horse movies for that matter.
DEADPOOL 72

the stage show which it is based on the horses steal the show the way they move,some of the best puppet work ever. i think when this is translated to the big screen it could lose a lot of its appeal.
http://www.galaxykid.blogspot.com Johnny Neat

What the? Where is the Lincoln biopic? Anyhow when I saw WWI as a topic for Spielberg I was happy thinking Private Ryan visuals in WWI, but sadly not the case huh? Why can't we get a continuation of Munich's topics?
Daisy L

I cant wait to go see this movie! the story was a huge success on stage and the book was also very popular because it is so compelling and heart-wrenching.
tiger tim

EVEN as YOU-genocide icon Bill Gates is out soft-selling 'selective' soft-kill of the old and 'unfit' ---on top of our ongoing, Oprah-initiated recreational extermination of the unborn (---ALLL in the name of costs and 'lifestyle') ---We're delighted to learn there's swelling disaffection just beneath the Spielberg-Lucas-Cameron RED China/New World Order franchise slum mafia facade ---on this, the 'mysteriously overlooked' 60th anniversary of the KOREAN WAR. -----------------YES!!!!