Spielberg gonna Spielberg, y’all. With his Oscar-contenderThe Postnow in theaters and making the awards circuit rounds, with the release of his tentpole sci-fi adventureReady Player Onejust around the corner,Steven Spielbergis reportedly gearing up for his next two directing gigs because he is a filmmaking force that cannot be contained.
Deadline reports that Spielberg has a number of possible projects in the air, but the filmmaker is eyeing Disney’s untitledIndiana Jones 5with a plan to either precede or follow with another movie in short order. And that other movie might just be Spielberg’s passion project, a new adaptation ofWest Side Story.
The next Indy film has been in the works since 2015, when Lucasfilm bossKathleen Kennedyconfirmed the wheels were in motion for another sequel. Frequent Spielberg collaboratorDavid Koepp(Spider-Man,Jurassic Park) was brought on board to pen the script and the film was slated for a summer 2019 release until Spielberg decided to sneak in his timely journalism dramaThe Post.Indiana Jones 5is currently scheduled to arrive in theaters on June 17, 2025.Koepp told us last fallthat they already had a script they were pretty happy with and that getting in front of cameras all comes down to timing.
As forWest Side Story,Spielberg has been interested in adapting the classic star-crossed-lovers musical drama for years. The filmmakerpreviously described itas “one of the greatest pieces of musical literature,” and per the report,Tony Kushner(Munich,Lincoln), another of Spielberg’s frequent collaborators, has been working on the script.Robert WiseandJerome Robbinsdirected the original 1961 film adaptation based on theStephen Sondheim,Leonard Bernstein, andArthur Laurentsmusical.
Spielberg also still hasThe Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortaraon his radar, which was set to starMark RylanceandOscar Isaacbefore the project cooled. According to Deadline, the Kushner-scripted project ran into trouble when Spielberg tried to cast the film’s young lead, for which he saw over 2000 child actors. The report also notes that Spielberg is open to another script if it empassions him the wayLiz Hannah’s script forThe Postdid.
So while it remains to be seen exactly what Spielberg will line up next, the good news is that the filmmaker doesn’t seem to have any plans of slowing down. Of course, Spielberg developing multiple projects in tandem isn’t exactly new. The legendary filmmaker is known for delivering back-to-back whammies. Most famously, he turned outJurassic ParkandSchindler’s Listin 1993, but let’s not forget he’s also the guy who double featuredMinority ReportandCatch Me if You Canin 2002, andWar of the WorldsandMunichin 2005. Prolific doesn’t quite cover it.
