Looking ahead, Steven Spielberg‘s schedule for the next few years is pretty clearly plotted out. His latest, “The BFG,” opens next month and after that he’s got a trio of pictures lined up: the historical thriller “The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara,” the sci-fi/fantasy adventure “Ready Player One,” and of course, “Indiana Jones 5.” But the director always has few pots on the stove, and he’s adding one to the back burner.
Deadline reports that Spielberg is circling a biopic about legendary journalist Walter Cronkite. It’s all pretty early days, and Spielberg isn’t committed just yet to direct, but “Bridge Of Spies” writer Matt Charman pitched the concept and is writing the script that will focus on Cronkite’s changing opinion during the Vietnam War, which is said to have largely guided the American public’s perception of the war at the time. His report on the Tet Offensive in particular was seen as groundbreaking, eye-opening work that was a bracing look at a pivotal moment in the war. All told, it sounds like it hits all the points in Spielberg’s wheelhouse of favorite themes pretty dead on. And incidentally, Spielberg and Cronkite did once cross paths, when the latter visited the set of “Jaws” when it was filming near his home in Martha’s Vineyard.
Again, this one is likely far off, but it’s promising. Let’s hope it doesn’t get lost in development hell.