Seth Rogen will play Steven Spielberg’s “favorite uncle” in the director’s next semi-biopic, which is loosely based on Spielberg’s childhood growing up in Arizona. According to Deadline, Rogen was cast to play young Spielberg’s beloved uncle in the untitled film. He joins the cast alongside Michelle Williams, who is supposed to play the role of a character inspired by Spielberg’s mother. The casting is also underway for several of the various children’s roles, one of which “will play the role inspired by the young storyteller”.
As the story is very personal for Spielberg, the renowned filmmaker is taking part in screenwriting assignments for the first time in 20 years (with AI Artificial Intelligence 2001 being the last time he wrote a script for a feature film). Spielberg collaborated on this new script with Tony Kushner, with whom he previously worked in Munich, Lincoln and on his next West Side Story remake. Spielberg and Kushner are also acting as producers alongside Kristie Macosko Krieger, who is another frequent collaborator with Spielberg, having started as an associate producer in Indiana Jones in 2008 and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, before moving on to produce films such as Bridge of Spies 2015 and The Post 2017 – both of which received Oscar nominations for Best Picture.
Spielberg is among the most powerful and influential people who have ever worked in Hollywood. The famous director gained prominence in the 1970s and helped to invent the modern blockbuster with films such as Shark, Immediate Contacts of the Third Degree and Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark, and for the most part, he has remained at the top of the game ever since.
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Spielberg’s next directing film appears to be a continuation of the West Side Story remake, which had its launch date delayed almost exactly one year, from a launch on the holiday of 2020 to a holiday period of 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19). Spielberg’s next film adaptation of David Kertzer’s book, The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara, is also in pre-production.
The production of Spielberg’s next semi-biographical film is scheduled to begin this summer, scheduled to launch sometime in 2022.
Adele Ankers is a freelance entertainment journalist. You can reach it at Twitter.
