Spielberg Developing & Directing Semi-Autobiopic, Williams in Talks to Star

While still awaiting the release of his big-screen adaptation of the hit musical West Side Story, Steven Spielberg is eyeing his next project in the form of a semi-autobiographical drama in which he will co-write and direct at his film studio Amblin Partners, according to Deadline.

The film, which Spielberg is co-writing with frequent collaborator Tony Kushner, will be loosely inspired by the three-time Oscar winner’s childhood growing up in Arizona. Sources report that four-time Oscar nominee Michelle Williams is currently in early negotiations to star in a key role inspired by Spielberg’s mother though will feature a separate and original voice.

The untitled project has been in the works for over 20 years, with Spielberg first having been urged by director and Close Encounters of the Third Kind star Francois Truffaut to make a film about his childhood with frequent collaborators Bob Gale and Robert Zemeckis (Back to the Future), which first started out as an R-rated film about 12-year-olds entitled After School before going through a number of other titles including Growing Up and I’ll Be Home, the latter of which saw its script written by his sister Anne Spielberg. Anne is best known for her work penning the script for the Tom Hanks-starring Big as well as an episode of the original run of her brothers’ anthology series Amazing Stories.

The film will also mark the first time in 20 years that the filmmaker acts as both writer and director on the project, with his previous writing credit being on the sci-fi blockbuster A.I. Artificial Intelligence in 2001, which was a passion project for Spielberg after being handed the project by Stanley Kubrick.

Sources report that casting will now begin for children at multiple age levels, one of whom will land the highly-coveted role of the Jurassic Park and E.T. helmer, with production currently slated to begin this summer in the hopes of making a 2022 release.

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