Last year, Steven Spielberg brought the past to vivid life in The Post, which earned two Academy Award nominations, one for Best Picture and one for Meryl Streep as Best Actress. Now he's conquered the future (again) with Ready Player One, already a popular success after less than one week in theatrical release.
Where -- and when -- will the director go next? Will he go back to the future? Actually, Spielberg will be returning to the past exploits of a favorite character; he'll also be updating a well-known tale.
What's next for the director?
Recently, Spielberg told Fandango: "I'll shoot Indy in '19." He's referring, of course, to the fifth installment of the Indiana Jones series, which he last visited in 2008. But he has another film in mind as well. "I'll hopefully shoot West Side Story toward the end of '19,” he said. “I'm not sure I'm going to make another movie this year. I may just work on preparing both Indy and West Side Story and spend this year in preparation for that.”
As with other in-demand filmmakers, Spielberg is constantly juggling a variety of projects that are in various stages of development. So until he begins production, anything can happen! Note, for example, his comment that he's "not sure" if he'll make another movie in 2018 … clearly, Spielberg likes to keep his options open and doesn't like to be tied down, just in case something good comes along.
What do we currently know about his next projects?
This past September, screenwriter David Koepp (Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull) said he had written a script for Indiana Jones 5. He added: "We’ve got a script we’re mostly happy with. Work will be endless, of course, and ongoing."
Combine that with Spielberg's recent comments (above), which seems to confirm Koepp's thesis that future tinkering is inevitable. But once they have the major action set-pieces decided upon, that means pre-production could begin, the sometimes lengthy period when sets are designed and built, shooting locations are locked down, the behind-the-scenes crew can start to be assembled, and schedules for actors can start to be firmed up.
As for West Side Story, casting for the dramatic musical romance reportedly began this past January. Even though the film may not start production until late 2019, Spielberg wants to find the perfect actors to play the roles, with a preference for unknowns, and that could easily eat up the balance of this year.
If Spielberg's planned version is indeed a musical, the actors would also need time for musical rehearsals and that could take months on its own. Past Spielberg collaborator Tony Kushner (Munich, Lincoln) has written a new screenplay, based on the original stage production written by Arthur Laurents, but a new screen version could feature new songs as well, not to mention that any dance numbers will need to be choreographed.
When are they due for release?
Last year, Indiana Jones 5 was scheduled for theatrical release on July 10, 2020.
No release date for West Side Story has been scheduled yet, though if it begins filming by the end of 2019, we shouldn't expect to see the finished movie in theaters until late 2020, or possibly the spring or summer of 2021.
