Steven Spielberg+ILM=War of the Worlds

I read somewhere recently, that Spielberg and ILM were hooking up for a remake of "War of the Worlds." All I've heard is that the film isn't going to have TONS of special effects, and that Tom Cruise is going to be playing the lead role. Anyone know anything else about the project?

 

Apparently it was slated for a 2007 realease, but that has recently been bumped up to 2005.

Comingsoon.net

Spielberg & Cruise Go to War
Source: The Hollywood Reporter Thursday, August 12, 2004


Paramount Pictures is switching its tentpole pictures for next year, says The Hollywood Reporter. Mission: Impossible 3, which has been plagued by director problems, is out, and War of the Worlds, directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Tom Cruise, is in.

The studio said Wednesday that instead of beginning production on "M:I-3" this summer, as had been originally planned, Cruise will instead go directly into Spielberg's modern-day adaptation of the H.G. Wells classic about a Martian invasion of Earth. "War," which has been in development for some time, will begin filming in November for a release sometime next year.

Cruise hasn't abandoned "M:I-3," though. It will now shoot next summer, with J.J. Abrams, creator of the TV series Felicity and Alias, set to make his feature directorial debut.

Spielberg also hit a roadblock with a drama he was readying to shoot about the aftermath of the 1972 Munich Summer Olympics. With that project delayed while it undergoes a rewrite by Tony Kushner, Spielberg's schedule opened up.

David Koepp (Spider-Man, Panic Room) wrote the "War" script. Spielberg and Cruise previously teamed up for blockbuster Minority Report.

And...

(from Empire online);

CRUISE AND SPIELBERG MOVE FAST ON WAR OF THE WORLDS
MI:3 and Olympics flick delays allow sci-fi film to go ahead
12 August 2004

For most film-makers, when a cherished project temporarily goes South, it's a trigger for a long period of inactivity as they scout around for something else to do in the interim.

Not for Steven Spielberg and Tom Cruise, though. Hollywood's most powerful actor-director duo (sorry Sam'n'Bruce) have reacted stoically to news that their proposed next pics, Spielberg's Untitled Munich Olympics Drama and Cruise's Mission: Impossible 3, have been substantially delayed by immediately throwing themselves into a collaboration on War of the Worlds.

The adaptation of the HG Wells sci-fi classic, which will be directed by the 'Berg, star Little Tommy and be produced by Paramount, has been on the Cruise/Spielberg PDA for some time, but it was always meant to go after Olympics and M:I-3 were completed.

But when Spielberg had to push back filming earlier this week on his Eric Bana-starring true-life story after hitting script problems, and Cruise had to bump M:I-3 principal photography to 2005 after experiencing we-don't-have-a-director problems, War of the Worlds - which has been quietly simmering over a nice pre-production heat for some time - was brought forward.

The film will mark the second Cruise-Spielberg collaboration, and after Minority Report they're staying in sci-fi. There's no doubt that the War of the Worlds update, which is provisionally scheduled for a late 2005 release (although expect that to change due to an extensive FX schedule), will be a huge hit, but there are concerns.

Reports suggest that this is a modern-day take on the story in which Martians invade Earth, blow most of it to smithereens, before succumbing to the unlikeliest of weapons - the common cold.

All well and good, except Independence Day was obviously a modern version of Wells' story, even down to the common cold (read: computer virus) storyline. Even M. Night Shyamalan's Signs was a peculiar take on the tale. If Spielberg and Cruise are going to jettison the Victorian setting, there might have to be some tweaking done so the great unwashed don't think they're just watching an ID4 remake.

Still, we're going to watch this one with avid interest. Spielberg hasn't done a film in which aliens are the bad guys (he came close when he turned John Sayles and Ron Cobb's Night Skies script into what would become ET), and if Cruise can bring some of his Vincent from Collateral cool to the movie, then we should be in a treat.

Once War of the Worlds is finished

 

A modern day take on War of the Worlds is IMO a bad idea despite Speilberg directing. We already have Independence Day I want this one set in the late 1800s or early 1900s.

Oh well I'll still probably go see it.

 

Not necessarily. Carpenter's The Thing proved that remakes can be modernized and still be great (some might say superior to the original).

The VFX comment is misleading. While AI had a lower count of VFX shots, some of those lasted a long time on the screen (particulalry the frozen NY flyby). Most VFX shots are always a few seconds long.

 

The chances of Spielberg remaking 'War of the Worlds', were a million to one, they said!
The chances of Spielberg remaking 'War of the Worlds', were a million to one... but still, it's getting done!

 

I think it has potential it could be very good. Or very very bad.

 

I hope this movie will be good.