Spielberg Plans The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara

Yet another potential directing job

Fear not, Spielbergers. The man behind Lincoln, Jurassic Park and so many famous films is not planning to snatch someone from the street and incur the wrath of Liam Neeson’s Bryan Mills. Instead, The Kidnapping Of Edgardo Mortara is yet another potential project for him to direct.

There’s every chance the script will spend time cooling its heels in Spielberg’s development pile, though, and it’s still in an embryonic form. If he does decide to take it on, Mortara would see a reunion between the director and his Munich/Lincoln collaborator, Tony Kushner. The writer is adapting David Kertzer’s novel, which charts the true story of a seven-year-old Italian Jew thrust into controversy in 1858 when he was taken from his parents and raised as a Catholic by authorities of the Papacy. He ended up becoming a priest. Even if he doesn't end up making the film himself, Spielberg plans to produce it for The Weinstein Company.

We’re still waiting to find out which of Spielberg’s current floating future films will become a reality, though according to Variety, technofear novel adaptation Robopocalypse appears to be a strong contender now that its script has been polished and its budget has been tweaked, although there is also the historical drama currently known as Montezuma, which Steven Zailllian is at work on.

from Empire News