While “West Side Story” is finally on our screens, Steven Spielberg has already completed the shooting of his next film, “The Fabelmans”. A feature film inspired by the history of his family, expected in November 2022 in our theaters.
If more than three years have passed between the releases of Ready Player One and West Side Story (postponed by a year because of the Covid-19 pandemic), it will not be necessary to wait that long to find Steven Spielberg on the big screen . Because his next feature film, titled The Fabelmans, is already shot and dated.
WHEN DOES IT COME OUT?
The Fabelmans will be on view in our theaters from Wednesday 23 November 2022. So in less than a year. And its release is scheduled for the same day in the United States, which will allow it to take advantage of the Thanksgiving long weekend, but also to position itself for the Oscars 2023.
WHAT WILL IT TALK?
While The Fabelmans does not yet have an official synopsis, it has already been revealed that it will be a drama loosely based on Steven Spielberg’s youth and his childhood in Arizona, centered on what led a young film buff to become one of the greatest filmmakers in history. For the occasion, the director co-wrote the screenplay with Tony Kushner (author of the West Side Story script), something he hadn’t done since AI in the early 2000s.
But could it be otherwise with this incredibly personal project, which he has wanted to set up for almost thirty years after having infused various elements of his childhood (the absence of his father in particular) into the themes of his feature films? previous? After West Side Story and his dream of a musical, it is another of his wishes that he is in the process of granting with this feature film officially announced in March 2021 and whose shooting, now completed, began in July.
However, The Fabelmans will only be freely inspired by the life of Steven Spielberg and the names of the characters will not be the same as those on which they are based. The hero, for example, will be called Sammy.
WHO WILL IT BE WITH?
Steven Spielberg’s alter ego on the big screen, Sammy will be played by Gabriel LaBelle, seen in The Predator and episodes of Brand New Cherry Flavor and season 2 of iZombie. A relatively unknown actor, unlike the big names by his side. First name of the casting to have been unveiled, Michelle Williams will indeed be the mother of the hero, inspired by that of the director who however specified that he would give him “an original voice”.
Also expected in The Batman in 2022, Paul Dano will be Sammy’s father. So a version of that of Steven Spielberg, whose absence following the divorce of his parents was felt in many of his films. Until the recent West Side Story, almost devoid of parental figures, which he nevertheless dedicated to him. A role that we imagine key in the filmography of the filmmaker, for the one who took his first steps as a director in 2018 with the very beautiful Wildlife, centered on the degradation of a couple.
Armed with his usual sympathy and friendliness, Seth Rogen will be a character inspired by the favorite uncle of young Spielberg. And Julia Butters (Trudi in Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood) will be the hero’s sister. Other names are also present in the cast, in roles that have not yet been revealed. Like Judd Hirsch or the young Oakes Fegley, revealed by the very Amblinian remake of Peter and Elliott the dragon. Is this how he caught the eye of the director?
Now all that remains is to wait for pictures and a trailer. And a passage through one of the big film festivals for this film which could be a beautiful end point in the filmography of Steven Spielberg, if the latter decides to retire afterwards?
Steven Spielberg is currently leading the dance in theaters with “West Side Story”: