Steven Spielberg Hits Pause On Robopocalypse

For the last few month Steven Spielberg has been developing an adaptation of Daniel H. Wilson's Robopocalypse as his follow-up to the critically-heralded Lincoln, but apparently things have been moving just a little bit too fast for the Oscar-winning filmmaker. New reports have surfaced saying that Spielberg has decided to slow down the march towards production.

Deadline is reporting the breaking news saying that the acclaimed filmmaker hasn't abandoned the project and is still planning to helm the feature, but is taking a step away from it so that it's not rushed. The project, which is working from a script written by Cabin in the Woods director Drew Goddard, was originally going to go before cameras this spring, but will now be pushed back until a later date. As you can probably guess, this means that the film probably won't hit its target release date, which is currently scheduled for April 25, 2014.

But while he may not be ready to take on a sci-fi epic about the battle between machine and man, the delay could open the doors for another project: Gods and Kings. Spielberg has been attached to the project, which tells the biblical story of Moses, since January 20012 and could very well be an alternative choice for the director this year. As of now, though, nothing is set in stone and what he plans on doing next is a mystery.

What the article doesn't mention is how the decision will effect the cast of Robopocalypse. Both Chris Hemsworth and Anne Hathaway signed on for the project last year, but they are also two of the most in-demand actors in Hollywood at the moment and could very well be busy whenever the director does decide to pick up the project again. Then again, when you have the chance to work with someone like Spielberg I have to imagine that you move mountains to make it happen.

Eric Eisenberg
Assistant Managing Editor

Eric Eisenberg is the Assistant Managing Editor at CinemaBlend. After graduating Boston University and earning a bachelor’s degree in journalism, he took a part-time job as a staff writer for CinemaBlend, and after six months was offered the opportunity to move to Los Angeles and take on a newly created West Coast Editor position. Over a decade later, he's continuing to advance his interests and expertise. In addition to conducting filmmaker interviews and contributing to the news and feature content of the site, Eric also oversees the Movie Reviews section, writes the the weekend box office report (published Sundays), and is the site's resident Stephen King expert. He has two King-related columns.