It’s a really remarkable time for Steven Spielberg. Lincoln just picked up a Best Picture nomination, and the Hollywood veteran was also nominated for Best Director.
In fact, Lincoln garnered 12 nominations in an Oscar race that the pundits are calling wide open in the sense that it’s very hard to predict who could walk away with the gold this year.
While Spielberg delivered the kind of historical drama he’s known for, he was also ready to make the kind of big, epic blockbuster he’s known for with Robopocalypse. Except now Spielberg has stalled the project, with some reports claiming the movie’s on hold “indefinitely.”
After making Lincoln, Spielberg claimed on 60 Minutes he was done with action films. “In my life, the action doesn’t attract me anymore.”
Yet this may not be the direct reason Robo’s been put on hold. Spielberg’s spokesperson told The Hollywood Reporter the film was “too important and the script is not ready, and it’s too expensive to produce. It’s back to the drawing board to see what’s possible.”
Meanwhile, Deadline is reporting that Spielberg isn’t bailing out, but rather, wants more time to work on the movie and isn’t interested in rushing. The site also noted current speculation that Spielberg may not want to come so hot on the heels of another robot epic, Guillermo Del Toro’s Pacific Rim, which opens this July. (Robo was scheduled for an April 2014 release with Chris Hemsworth and Anne Hathaway starring).
As the big Spiel further elaborated to Entertainment Weekly, “We found that the film was costing a lot of money and I found a better way to tell the story more economically but also much more personally. I’m starting on a new script and we’ll have this movie back on its feet soon.” Spielberg also felt the delay would be in the six to eight month range.
While it’s wonderful that Spielberg is still on top of his game and can still deliver a great drama, we’d still love to see him doing the big action packed spectacle with the latest in state of the art special effects he also delivers so well.
So here’s to hoping Spielberg will come back to Robopocaylpse soon, and teach young whipper snappers like Michael Bay and Guillermo Del Toro a thing or two about robots beating the crap out of each other.
