UPDATE: Steven Spielberg has committed to directing "Robopocalypse," reports Deadline.
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In case you were wondering, Steven Spielberg is the man.
All the guy has to do is faintly show interest in something, and everyone in Hollywood wants a piece. If Steve-o glances interestedly at a piece of dog doo on the sidewalk, 10 producers will brawl to see who can turn that turd into a feature film.
That last part might be an exaggeration, but Spielberg's clout most definitely is not.
The Vulture reports that Spielberg is considering making a big-screen adaptation of Daniel H. Wilson's killer-robot novel "Robopocalypse" (to be published in June 2011) his next project. "Cloverfield" co-writer Drew Goddard just turned in a draft of the script, and already all of Tinseltown is champing at the bit to get a peek.
"With DreamWorks, everything is potentially a Steven project — until it's not," a source tells Vulture. "That's why everyone's in a frenzy trying to read it." In other words, agents want to read the script so they can cast their actors in the film, and directors want to read it so they can jump in if Spielberg decides to bail. Hey, we get it. If the man behind "Indiana Jones," "E.T." and "Schindler's List" thinks a movie might be worth making, it must be gold.
Sure, a story about futuristic robots who threaten to destroy the world sounds like this little indie movie we once saw called "Transformers," but you can bet that if Spielberg is involved, our butts will be in theater seats opening night.
(Originally published on Sept. 21, 2010, at 2:41 p.m. ET)
