Kip Thorne Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Following back-to-back films in 2005, director Steven Spielberg is taking some time off, or so he says. However, the past few weeks have been filled with rumors surrounding which project the man will take on next. Even with its instability, Indiana Jones 4 is all but a lock to begin filming sometime in 2007, with a projected release date of summer 2008. Okay, so is it safe to say Indy 4 will be his next pic? Can Steven Spielberg really go almost three years without a film in theaters?

If not, then perhaps one of several Spielberg-linked projects currently in development will slide in between now and Harrison Ford riding off into the sunset ... again. Well, that's if you don't count his reality television show, On the Lot. Honestly, Spielberg is just as involved with that project as I am involved with Ryan Seacrest's personal life. And if you've read this blog long enough, then you know exactly how involved that is.

So, if Spielberg does decide to squeeze a film out of his, er, brain sometime in 2007, which one will it be? Seeing as Indy 4 will travel the summer blockbuster route, could Stevie go with a smaller, character driven piece ala Munich? Ooohh, or will he go totally indie on us and spit out some tiny, $3 million festival pic? In case you've missed all of the current possibilities, let me recap:

• First up, we have the untitled Abraham Lincoln biopic that's been on hold for quite sometime now. Pic, which was supposed to star Liam Neeson, might be a nice, quiet film with Oscar potential.
• Next we have this untitled Kip Thorne-inspired sci-fi film in the vein of 2001: A Space Odyssey. This seems as if it is a bit too ambitious to take on before Indy 4. And, not for nothing, but Spielberg's last two sci-fi films weren't all that spectacular.
• And, last but not least, according to an article in The Hollywood Reporter, there's another film peaking Spielberg's interest. This one is based off a script by Rod Lurie and revolves around the "glitzy New York media world." I have no idea what this is about, but I do enjoy the word 'glitzy' and feel people should use it more often.

So, I ask you: Which project should Steven Spielberg direct next? Indie or blockbuster? Should he focus all his energy on Indy 4 or attempt to squeeze out one of the above mentioned films beforehand?

For someone who just announced he'd like to become an independent filmmaker, Steven Spielberg has quite a few studio projects on his slate. And he has just been attached to one more. The popular director will make a science-fiction film for Paramount that is being described as, "in the vein of 2001: A Space Odyssey." The only plot revealed is that it will focus on space explorers who travel to another dimension through a wormhole. No script is written, but there is a treatment co-written by Caltech physicist Kip Thorne and producer Lynda Obst, and it is based on Thorne's theories of gravity fields. So all we know is the yet-to-be-titled film will have something to do with black holes, gravity waves and some of Einsteins relativity hypotheses. Sounds like another action-packed blockbuster!

Of course, Spielberg still has Indiana Jones 4 and a movie about Abraham Lincoln (with Liam Neeson as the President!) to shoot before he gets behind the camera for this nerdy-sounding film. So, hopefully by 2010 he will be able to start his indie films. Given his trademark of stories about distant fathers, I am hoping he kicks it off with one of those films where a twenty-something comes home and has to make amends with his dad.