Spielberg to Direct Movie About 72 Olympic Terrorist Incident
04-21-04, 02:35 PM
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Spielberg to Direct Movie About 72 Olympic Terrorist Incident
Filmmaker Steven Spielberg (news), who won his first Oscar for the Holocaust drama "Schindler's List," has taken on another tragic moment in modern Jewish history as his next project -- the 1972 Munich Olympics.
Spielberg plans to start production in June and is eyeing actor Ben Kingsley (news) for a role in the upcoming drama, which will chronicle the Summer Games marred by the kidnapping and slaying of Israeli athletes by Palestinian militants, a DreamWorks studio spokeswoman said on Wednesday.
In all, 11 Israelis lost their lives in the bloody 1972 tragedy, including nine hostages killed in a botched rescue attempt at a military air base outside Munich, all while Olympics officials carried on with the competition. Five of the gunmen and a German policeman also died. Three of the militants were captured alive.
The specter of the massacre 32 years ago has haunted authorities in Greece preparing security for the upcoming Summer Olympics (news - web sites) in Athens amid heightened concerns of potential attacks by extremists linked to the al Qaeda terror network.
Details of the as-yet-untitled film have been kept shrouded in secrecy as Spielberg pins down European locations for the production, the studio spokeswoman said.
She said the screenplay will be written by Eric Roth, who won an Oscar for his "Forrest Gump" script and was nominated for "The Insider." The film is to be released domestically by Universal Pictures, a unit of Vivendi Universal, and overseen by Spielberg's home studio, DreamWorks SKG. No release date has been set.
It was not clear what role Kingsley might take. He previously co-starred in "Schindler's List," which earned Spielberg Academy Awards (news - web sites) for best picture and best director. Spielberg won his second directing Oscar for the World War II film, "Saving Private Ryan."
The Munich Olympics debacle also was the subject of the Oscar-winning documentary "One Day in September" (2000) as well as the 1976 television dramatization, "21 Hours at Munich."
Spielberg was last in theaters with the caper film "Catch Me If You Can" and his next movie, "The Terminal," starring Tom Hanks (news) as a Russian immigrant stranded in a U.S. airport, is due for release in June.
After finishing the Munich Olympics film, Spielberg plans to direct a project titled "The Rivals," followed by a big-screen adaptation of H.G. Wells' alien invasion tale, "War of the Worlds," starring Tom Cruise (news), Daily Variety reported.
Spielberg plans to start production in June and is eyeing actor Ben Kingsley (news) for a role in the upcoming drama, which will chronicle the Summer Games marred by the kidnapping and slaying of Israeli athletes by Palestinian militants, a DreamWorks studio spokeswoman said on Wednesday.
In all, 11 Israelis lost their lives in the bloody 1972 tragedy, including nine hostages killed in a botched rescue attempt at a military air base outside Munich, all while Olympics officials carried on with the competition. Five of the gunmen and a German policeman also died. Three of the militants were captured alive.
The specter of the massacre 32 years ago has haunted authorities in Greece preparing security for the upcoming Summer Olympics (news - web sites) in Athens amid heightened concerns of potential attacks by extremists linked to the al Qaeda terror network.
Details of the as-yet-untitled film have been kept shrouded in secrecy as Spielberg pins down European locations for the production, the studio spokeswoman said.
She said the screenplay will be written by Eric Roth, who won an Oscar for his "Forrest Gump" script and was nominated for "The Insider." The film is to be released domestically by Universal Pictures, a unit of Vivendi Universal, and overseen by Spielberg's home studio, DreamWorks SKG. No release date has been set.
It was not clear what role Kingsley might take. He previously co-starred in "Schindler's List," which earned Spielberg Academy Awards (news - web sites) for best picture and best director. Spielberg won his second directing Oscar for the World War II film, "Saving Private Ryan."
The Munich Olympics debacle also was the subject of the Oscar-winning documentary "One Day in September" (2000) as well as the 1976 television dramatization, "21 Hours at Munich."
Spielberg was last in theaters with the caper film "Catch Me If You Can" and his next movie, "The Terminal," starring Tom Hanks (news) as a Russian immigrant stranded in a U.S. airport, is due for release in June.
After finishing the Munich Olympics film, Spielberg plans to direct a project titled "The Rivals," followed by a big-screen adaptation of H.G. Wells' alien invasion tale, "War of the Worlds," starring Tom Cruise (news), Daily Variety reported.
04-21-04, 03:26 PM
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I'm there too...although I'm worried about "Terminal" - looks kind of cornball.
I guess Steven's pretty tied up with projects for the next two or three years...bad news for "Indiana Jones" fans.
I guess Steven's pretty tied up with projects for the next two or three years...bad news for "Indiana Jones" fans.
04-21-04, 04:58 PM
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so i wonder if the terrorists killing the jews will be the closing portion of the movie... or if Mossad agents hunting down and assassinating every single terrorist they even thought might have been associated with that terrorist act will be....
j
j
04-21-04, 05:33 PM
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I could see this as being a film with a great potential to inflame and piss off Palastinians. Not that Spielberg (or myself) really give to shits if they're offended.
One Day in September fired up all these Palastinian sympathizers who have the nerve to complain that the documentary is one sided and makes no effort to show the Palastinian point of view. Because apparantly there is a point of view that would make the taking and execution of innocent civilian hostages justified.
I hope they get John Voight to play Howard Cosell
One Day in September fired up all these Palastinian sympathizers who have the nerve to complain that the documentary is one sided and makes no effort to show the Palastinian point of view. Because apparantly there is a point of view that would make the taking and execution of innocent civilian hostages justified.
I hope they get John Voight to play Howard Cosell
04-21-04, 05:43 PM
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I thought the group that came off the worse in "One Day in September" were the coward idiot West Germans. Hell they even staged a hijacking so they could release those bastard terrorrists.
04-21-04, 06:02 PM
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While I am interested as to how this will look, the material looks like it's going to be one big emotional downer from start to finish. Knowing Spielberg, he will fully explore the background of each hostage before having them murdered. Not that it's bad, just dark.
04-21-04, 07:03 PM
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Originally posted by jekbrown
so i wonder if the terrorists killing the jews will be the closing portion of the movie... or if Mossad agents hunting down and assassinating every single terrorist they even thought might have been associated with that terrorist act will be....
j
so i wonder if the terrorists killing the jews will be the closing portion of the movie... or if Mossad agents hunting down and assassinating every single terrorist they even thought might have been associated with that terrorist act will be....
j
04-21-04, 08:38 PM
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Originally posted by Mr. Salty
What's the source of the original story? That isn't mentioned in the post anywhere.
What's the source of the original story? That isn't mentioned in the post anywhere.
04-21-04, 08:39 PM
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Originally posted by RyoHazuki
Sorry I had school........or um....SS Youth meetings.
Sorry I had school........or um....SS Youth meetings.
Oh, and
04-21-04, 09:45 PM
#18
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I've been interested in this story ever since I saw the Olympic Stadium in Munich and my dad told me about what happened during those Olympics. This news about Spielberg is very intriguing.
