He always wanted to make a musical! (that one great sequence in 1941 excepted)....

After the aborted Lincoln and Harvey projects, Deadlinehollywood is claiming Spielberg's next will be a chronicle of George Gershwin and Zachary Quinto -- who has a background in singing and the stage (but you'd never know it from his roles on HEROES and STAR TREK) -- is apparently all set to play the great songwriter.

Quinto is quickly shaping up to be one of the bright young talents out there and I'd be excited to see Spielberg shift gears for this one myself...

Since he dropped out of Harvey, Steven Spielberg’s first project under the reconstituted DreamWorks has been a subject of much speculation. Now I hear who's at the center of the director's biopic of George Gershwin, which DreamWorks acquired last fall. It’s Zachary Quinto -- Sylar in the NBC drama-fantasy Heroes, and Spock in the JJ Abrams-directed megapic Star Trek. Quinto will play the famed composer and pianist, who with brother Ira was responsible for more than a dozen Broadway shows before dying at 38. DreamWorks is even supplying accent and dialogue coaches for Quinto, and shooting could begin as soon as April. Doug Wright wrote the script, and Marc Platt and singer/pianist Michael Feinstein are producing. A DreamWorks insider says this is one of 3 projects Spielberg is looking at for his next piccause he's anxious to get back to work. I wouldn't be surprised if there's an announcement later this week.

http://www.deadline.com/hollywood/exclu ... /#comments

AndyDursin wrote:He always wanted to make a musical! (that one great sequence in 1941 excepted)....

And don't forget the opening scene from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.

John Johnson wrote:

AndyDursin wrote:He always wanted to make a musical! (that one great sequence in 1941 excepted)....

And don't forget the opening scene from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.

That indeed proved that Spielberg knows his way around elaborate choreography.

That said, I'm not too excited about this. Spielberg needs to get his ass in gear and make that Lincoln biopic he's been talking up for the last decade or so.

Yep, the opening from TEMPLE OF DOOM as well...good call.

Obviously we have no idea how this will turn out, but I'm much more excited about this than MUNICH, THE TERMINAL, even TINTIN (going to be an all CGI fest) and the prospects of a HARVEY remake. As much of a Spielberg fan as I am (or used to be), it wasn't a great decade for him on balance...with some of his worst movies in the mix. He could stand a change of pace.

But as with anything, hopefully it'll pan out. Who knows.

There's got to be some reason why the Lincoln biopic hasn't been done...perhaps the material just isn't strong enough.

If this happens there would be a BIG project for composer John Williams! Not to mention the various original adaptations of Gershiwn's scores.

azahid wrote:If this happens there would be a BIG project for composer John Williams! Not to mention the various original adaptations of Gershiwn's scores.

Agreed!

Good to see you Amer!