All of the Arts 10 Films Nearly Directed by Steven Spielberg by museumoflostJanuary 3, 2018 Steven Spielberg is cinema's most successful director. He is also well known for attaching himself to projects, and then pulling out during pre-production. Here are 10 famous movies, that he almost directed. ALL of the ARTS <section> <h2>10 Movies Almost Directed by Steven Spielberg</h2> <div>Click <b>Start</b> to begin.</div> </section> <section> <h2>CRUISING (dir. William Friedkin)</h2> <p>Steven Spielberg started in television, directing episodes of genre shows like ‘Night Gallery’, before graduating to TV movies (one of which, ‘Duel’, was good enough for a theatrical release). Looking to break into feature films, Spielberg nearly got his start on ‘Cruising’, a film about a serial killer preying on men in gay bars in New York. The film’s producer, Philip D’Antoni, was fresh off an Oscar for ‘The French Connection’ and was looking for young talent to helm the provocative material. D’Antoni met Spielberg at a party in LA, the two hit it off, and the young director began developing a script. But ultimately, Spielberg struggled with the tone of the film, which featured graphic sex and violence and was much darker than he wanted to work on. Spielberg left the project with the script still under development, and ‘Cruising’ would languish for a decade, before being produced in 1980 with director William Friedkin, and star Al Pacino.</p> </section> <section> <h3>THE TAKING OF PELHAM 1-2-3 (dir. Joseph Sargent)</h3> <p>Spielberg’s first feature film would eventually be 1974’s ‘The Sugarland Express’, a crime caper about a struggling young couple who go on the lam. Famously, his second film was ‘Jaws’, which overcame myriad production problems to become the most successful film ever released (at that time). Amazingly, Spielberg nearly didn’t direct it at all. For his second movie, he was initially enthusiastic for ‘The Taking of Pelham 1-2-3’; an edgy thriller about the hijacking of a New York subway train, based on a popular novel. Spielberg read the script and pushed for the project, but was told by Universal that they wanted a director with more experience. Around this time, Spielberg also turned down the chance to direct a Douglas Macarthur bio pic, saying he found the material dull. Finally, he stumbled across the novel ‘Jaws’, and set his sights on history.</p> </section> <section> <h3>RAIN MAN (dir. Barry Levinson)</h3> <p>As a student of classic American cinema, Spielberg had long wanted to work with Dustin Hoffman. The right project appeared to materialise in 1987, when Spielberg came across a script by Barry Morrow entitled ‘Rain Man’. Hoffman was to play the lead – an autistic older man with a knack for card counting – with Tom Cruise to play Hoffman’s younger brother, and reluctant carer (Bill Murray and Mickey Rourke turned down these roles). Spielberg spent several months developing the project with his high profile stars, before agreeing with George Lucas to make a third Indiana Jones film instead. Barry Levinson took over as ‘Rain Man’ director, and the film would sweep the following year's Oscars, winning Best Picture, Best Director for Levinson, Best Actor for Hoffman, among 8 awards overall. Spielberg would subsequently work with Hoffman on 1991’s ‘Hook.’</p> </section> <section> <h3>CAPE FEAR (dir. Martin Scorcese)</h3> <p>Spielberg's interest in classic films also lead him to ‘Cape Fear’, a stylish psychological thriller originally released in 1962. Slated for a remake in 1991, Spielberg was the first director attached to the project, and it was his idea to cast Robert De Niro as psychotic villain Max Cady (originally played by Robert Mitchum). Again though, Spielberg found the material too extreme for his taste, and worried that he would not be able to translate the script successfully. His close friend Martin Scorsese, also a classic film buff, stepped into the director’s chair at his request.</p> </section> <section> <h3>HARRY POTTER AND THE PHILOSOPHER'S STONE (dir. Chris Columbus)</h3> <div>The film rights to the boy wizard were acquired by Warner Brothers in 2000, and who better to turn the world's most popular kid's books into movies than Steven Spielberg? Then Warner’s President Alan Horn duly offered the first film in the series to Spielberg, who was briefly attached. Only the director had some ideas that didn’t sit well with the studio, or with Potter author J.K.Rowling; he wanted to combine the Philosopher’s Stone with the Chamber of Secrets, and make one animated movie, using motion capture technology. And Haley Joel Osment was Spielberg's choice to play Harry Potter. Eventually, everyone decided the fit wasn’t quite right, and Spielberg moved on to direct ‘A.I.’ with Osment, instead.</div> </section> <section> <h3>BIG FISH (dir. Tim Burton)</h3> <p>2003’s ‘Big Fish’, an imaginative movie about a compulsive story teller, was viewed by many as a return to form for director Tim Burton. But the film, adapted from a novel by Daniel Wallace, was originally lined up for Spielberg, with Jack Nicholson to star. But when he committed to the project, Spielberg already had a list of things on the go; he was in post-production on 'A.I.', and had already started pre-production on ‘Minority Report’, a sci-fi extravaganza with Tom Cruise. Clearly having over committed himself, Spielberg withdrew from 'Big Fish' during pre-production..</p> </section> <section> <h3>THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON (dir. David Fincher)</h3> <p>In 1991 Spielberg bought the rights to ‘The Curious Case of Benjamin Button’, an F. Scott Fitzgerald short story about a man who ages in reverse. Spielberg originally wanted Tom Cruise for the lead role, commenting subsequently; ‘Tom and I had been friends for many, many years. We had considered working together. Benjamin Button, we had talked about maybe doing together.’ But Spielberg would be distracted by another, much more serious, literary adaptation, when he made ‘Schindler’s List’ the same year. Spielberg’s option on the book lapsed in 1994, and the project then passed into development limbo, with a number of film makers attached. Among those attached to the project directors Ron Howard and Spike Jonze, screenwriters Eric Roth and Charlie Kaufman, and actor John Travolta. Benjamin Button would eventually make it to the screen in 2008, directed by David Fincher, and produced by Spielberg regulars Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall.</p> </section> <section> <h3>THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY (dir. Ben Stiller)</h3> <p>In 2003, Steven Spielberg co-produced the Jim Carrey vehicle, ‘Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events.’ During a production meeting, Carrey mentioned that he had read that the rights to ‘The Secret Life of Walter Mitty’, a classic 1947 comedy, had recently become available, and that he was interested in appearing in a re-make. According to John Goldwyn, another producer, Spielberg immediately said, ‘If Jim is going to star in that, then I want to direct.’ Ultimately though, both Spielberg and Carrey would be waylaid with other projects, and neither would participate. The Walter Mitty remake would also enter production limbo; both Mike Myers and Sacha Baron Cohen were attached at different times, and Gore Verbinski was among several directors who nearly made the film. In 2013, the movie was finally made as a vehicle for director/producer/star Ben Stiller.</p> </section> <section> <h3>INTERSTELLAR (dir. Christopher Nolan)</h3> <p>For some people, this is <em>the</em> Christopher Nolan film, an existential space saga that hits all of the director’s well-known obsessions; time, reality, and some really BIG tech. But it nearly wasn’t a Nolan film at all, as Steven Spielberg was originally attached. The film began as an 8 page treatment, written by physicist Kip Thorne and producer Lynda Obst (who had previously collaborated on the Robert Zemeckis movie ‘Contact’). Spielberg liked the outline and came on-board in 2006, hiring Jonathan Nolan to flesh out the screenplay. But in 2009 Spielberg moved his production company ‘Dreamworks’ from Paramount – which owned ‘Interstellar’ – to Disney, and so had to drop out. Jonathan Nolan then suggested his brother as replacement director, and the two Nolan’s re-worked the script together.</p> </section> <section> <h3>AMERICAN SNIPER (dir. Clint Eastwood)</h3> <p>‘American Sniper’ started as a nonfiction book; US Marines sniper Chris Kyle’s recollection of his life and time in the service. The film rights were acquired by Bradley Cooper, a fan, who initially wanted to produce the movie, before agreeing to star as well, in order to secure finance. Another notable fan of the book was Stephen Spielberg, who was Cooper's first choice as director. Spielberg helped develop the script, and it was his idea to add the enemy sniper, Kyle’s shadowy opposite number, a fictional character that became a derided addition. Spielberg’s vision for the movie eventually overtook the project’s modest budget, and he stepped aside for Clint Eastwood. American Sniper would subsequently become Eastwood’s most commercially successful film, and the highest grossing film in the US in 2014.</p> </section> <p></p> More MUSEUM OF LOST Share this:Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)Like this:Like Loading... Related