While Steven Spielberg is one of those directors who seems to have a vast multitude of projects on the go, it seems that he’s having a little bit of trouble finding his next film, with news today that the esteemed director has pulled out of the true-life tale, American Sniper.
This is the second project in a row that Steven Spielberg has exited, following on from Robopocalypse, which for a while, seemed like it would be the director’s next project following on from last year’s award winning Lincoln. But after that went on hold indefinitely following script issues, he signed onto American Sniper, with Bradley Cooper producing and starring.
Based on the autobiography of Navy SEAL Chris Kyle, the Jason Hall penned adaptation follows an American sniper who, in his ten year career, acquired the most kills in American military history, leading Iraqi insurgents to place a bounty on his head. Naturally of course, all this killing in the workplace and whatnot put a huge strain on the man’s marriage and homelife.
Deadline reports that Spielberg and his production company, DreamWorks, who were co-producing the project with Warner Bros, have pulled out entirely. Apparently, it seemed that Spielberg couldn’t make the project work with the budget that all had agreed upon. Bradley Cooper and Warner Bros remain on board however and are free to search for a new director. No words on any potential candidates as of yet but expect that to change soon.
This sort of hopping around between projects isn’t anything new for Spielberg. It took him eleven years to get Lincoln off the ground, with numerous stops and starts along the way. He also still intends to make Robopocalypse, but at this point, no word on what project Spielberg may gravitate towards next. ‘m sure it won’t be too long before he finally settles on something though and when he does, we’ll let you know.
For now though, tell us, what do you think of Steven Spielberg leaving American Sniper and who do you think should replace him?