Steven Spielberg's 'The Talisman' is Too Expensive for Primetime

Granted, this might be stepping into TV Squad's domain, but it is about Steven Spielberg after all. The Hollywood Reporter has announced that Spielberg's adaptation of Stephen King and Peter Straub's 1984 novel, The Talisman, has hit a financial roadblock. According to THR, the miniseries originally slated to premiere on TNT in 2008, "has been put on hold because of budgetary issues" -- which will definitely put a crimp in the plans to expand the story into an ongoing series. The Talisman focuses on a young boy who journeys into a parallel dimension to save his mother. Sources for THR said that once all the scripts had been completed, it became obvious that the project would require a huge special FX budget that TNT wasn't ready to fork over. Spielberg first bought the novel for his own Amblin Entertainment over 20 years ago. Never one to give up, as late as 2004, he was still trying to make the film under his DreamWorks shingle. Past directors attached to the project include: Vadim Perelman (who just signed for Angelina Jolie's Atlas Shrugged), and Ed Zwick (Blood Diamond).

As I'm sure we are all aware, Spielberg is still working on the fourth installment of Indiana Jones, Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of The Crystal Skull -- and I don't think I'm alone in saying that they managed to pick a doozy of a title this time around. There has also been talk that Spielberg might be taking over directorial duties on Aaron Sorkin's film about the 1968 Democratic convention. If he does, the only question will probably revolve around how he's going to work Shia LaBeouf into that one. As for his TV aspirations, until TNT can sort out a budget for the mini-series, it looks like The Talisman is going to stay on the shelf just a little while longer.