Steven Spielberg has a lot of projects in the pipeline — including two films, Tintin and War Horse, that will both open in December — but perhaps the one that he’s worked on the longest is Lincoln, starring Daniel Day-Lewis as the sixteenth (and many say greatest) President of the United States.
Of course, with a political figure as iconic as Abraham Lincoln — let’s face it, both major political parties in the United States frequently use Lincoln as a benchmark of presidential success — there are dozens of possible angles Spielberg could take on Honest Abe. But he helps narrow down his approach for us by telling the Orlando Sentinel what his Lincoln movie isn’t.
First, it isn’t a “war movie.” Spielberg says, “There are battles in it, and being in Virginia, we have access to those historic battlefields. It is really a movie about the great work Abraham Lincoln did in the last months of his life.” I’d say that’s a good move, because there are already a lot of great movies about Civil War battles (although Spielberg is one of the greatest battle scene directors ever even if you base it solely on the Omaha Beach scene in Saving Private Ryan).
It also isn’t meant to be a political commentary on today’s issues, adding “The movie will be purposely coming out AFTER next year’s election. I didn’t want it to become political fodder.” That’s also another good move on Spielberg’s part, as Spielberg certainly caused some waves with his political messages in Munich.
In addition, Spielberg speaks at length about the recent claims of the demise of 3D movies after several 3D films this summer underperformed or did better business than expected in 2D screenings. Spielberg denies the death of 3D (in part probably because the upcoming Tintin is in 3D, I’d imagine), but does say that it’s clear that the audience is dictating what movies are truly “worth” the extra price for 3D. He explains, “3D isn’t dead. Nooo. It’s just waiting for the right film to come along that will make an audience want to see it in 3D and not pay the lesser ticket price to see it in 2D. It’s always up to the audience. 3D is just another tool in our shed. It’s up to the audience to discriminate whether or not they think this or that is worth seeing in 3D. They decide Avatar is worth a few bucks more in 3D. They decide if Cars 2 is worth a few bucks less in 2D. Audiences made those choices – Avatar in 3D, Cars 2 in 2D. And that’s the way it’s going to be from now on.”
Of course, the audience doesn’t make the choice until after the studio has gone through the expense of creating 3D prints, but Spielberg adds, “Thank goodness the audience always has the final word. In the end, we are all working for them.”
So you’re working for me, Spielberg? Nice! Go back to making movies now and tell your buddy George Lucas to stop f’n around with Star Wars!
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