• Steven Spielberg reveals letter in which Daniel Day-Lewis rejected 'Lincoln' role

    Todd Williamson / AP file

    Daniel Day-Lewis, left, and director Steven Spielberg arrive at the "Lincoln" premiere at AFI Fest in Hollywood on Nov. 8.

    By Jordan Zakarin, The Hollywood Reporter
    Steven Spielberg was at the podium to hand the New York Film Critics Circle award for best actor to Daniel Day-Lewis, but in a just world, he'd be taking home part of the trophy himself.

    STORY: Daniel Day-Lewis on Lincoln's Voice, Spielberg on His Presidency

    The Oscar-winning director famously chased down the life story of the 16th president for a decade, running through scripts and collaborators like the Union did Civil War generals in a process that would ultimately result in this fall's smash hit, "Lincoln." On Monday, Spielberg read to the public for the first time the letter that the two-time Oscar-winning actor sent him to pass on the first version of the project, a sweeping war epic with the president as fearless leader.

    Dear Steven,

    It was a real pleasure just to sit and talk with you. I listened very carefully to what you had to say about this compelling history, and I’ve since read the script and found it in all the detail in which it describes these monumental events and in the compassionate portraits of all the principal characters, both powerful and moving. I can’t account for how at any given moment I feel the need to explore life as opposed to another, but I do know that I can only do this work if I feel almost as if there is no choice; that a subject coincides inexplicably with a very personal need and a very specific moment in time. In this case, as fascinated as I was by Abe, it was the fascination of a grateful spectator who longed to see a story told, rather than that of a participant. That’s how I feel now in spite of myself, and though I can’t be sure that this won’t change, I couldn’t dream of encouraging you to keep it open on a mere possibility. I do hope this makes sense Steven, I’m glad you’re making the film, I wish you the strength for it, and I send both my very best wishes and my sincere gratitude to you for having considered me.

    Spielberg said he then had an entirely new script written, which he then sent to Day-Lewis -- only to receive a similar reply. That led him to scrap that as well and turn to his "Munich" collaborator Tony Kushner to pen another new version. Eventually, that was whittled down from 500 pages to find the soul of the president in the small details.

    The final product, a narrow and politically focused character study of a committed leader working to pass the 13th Amendment, is a completely different film than what Spielberg had first proposed to Day-Lewis in the early years of the last decade. As it turned out, Kushner's screenplay -- or, the part that was used in the film, anyway -- was honored by the NYFCC as well.

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  • 'Lincoln' tops BAFTA nominations with 10, but Steven Spielberg left out

    Dreamworks via AP

    Sally Field and Daniel Day-Lewis in "Lincoln."

    By Mike Collett-White, Reuters

    "Lincoln", the story of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln's battle to end slavery starring Daniel Day-Lewis in the title role, won 10 BAFTA nominations on Wednesday, putting it ahead of the pack at Britain's top film honors.

    The biopic was shortlisted in categories including best film, actor, supporting actor (Tommy Lee Jones) and supporting actress (Sally Field), but director Steven Spielberg was not nominated.

    Added to its domination of the Golden Globe contenders going into Sunday night's awards ceremony, British critics said the film appeared to be in pole position to sweep Oscar nominations which are announced on Thursday.

    "Les Miserables", the movie version of the global hit stage musical, and shipwreck saga "Life of Pi" followed with nine BAFTA nominations each, while the latest installment of James Bond, "Skyfall", garnered eight.

    Iranian hostage thriller "Argo" won seven nominations and "Anna Karenina", an adaptation of the Russian novel, earned six.

    Quentin Tarantino's quirky slavery-era Western "Django Unchained" and "Zero Dark Thirty," about the hunt for Osama bin Laden, were just behind with five nominations apiece.

    "Amour," Austrian director Michael Haneke's moving portrayal of death, bagged four nominations, an unusually high number for a film in a foreign language.

    Eric Fellner of Working Title Films, the company behind "Les Miserables" and "Anna Karenina," said he was pleased that two potentially risky projects had been recognized.

    "Les Miserables," by Oscar-winning director of "The King's Speech" Tom Hooper, was sung live on set, while Joe Wright's "Anna Karenina," starring Keira Knightley and Jude Law, was set against the backdrop of elaborate stage sets.

    "We knew that it was a much-loved musical and there was a large part of the world's population who were also aware of the book," Fellner said of "Les Miserables" after the BAFTA nominations were announced.

    "But it didn't stack up as a mainstream movie because over the past decades very few (musicals) have worked. It was a big risk," he told Reuters, adding that awards recognition could provide a big lift for a picture just hitting theaters now.

    Of Anna Karenina, he added: "The minute you do anything different it becomes harder to get it made. But we really believe in our film makers." 


    "Skyfall's" Judi Dench was nominated for best supporting actress as Bond's spymaster M and Spanish actor Javier Bardem was nominated for best supporting actor as the villain Silva. 

    There is likely to be disappointment, however, that the movie which has become the most successful in British box office history, with critical acclaim to match, was not included on the most coveted shortlist -- best film. 

    That award will be contested by "Argo,"" Lincoln," "Life of Pi," "Les Miserables" and "Zero Dark Thirty."

    Up for best actor alongside Day-Lewis is Ben Affleck ("Argo"), Bradley Cooper ("Silver Linings Playbook"), Hugh Jackman ("Les Miserables") and Joaquin Phoenix in "The Master." 

    The best actress award is between 85-year-old Emmanuelle Riva ("Amour"), Helen Mirren ("Hitchcock"), Jennifer Lawrence ("Silver Linings Playbook"), Jessica Chastain ("Zero Dark Thirty") and Marion Cotillard ("Rust and Bone").

    As well as Haneke and Affleck, Ang Lee is in the running for best director ("Life of Pi") as is Tarantino and Kathryn Bigelow ("Zero Dark Thirty").

    The BAFTAs have a patchy record in predicting which films go on to scoop the biggest movie honours, the Oscars, although last year the main winner in London, "The Artist,"  also swept to success at the Academy Awards.

    The awards ceremony for the BAFTAs, formally called the EE British Academy Film Awards, takes place in London on Feb. 10.

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  • Steven Spielberg returns guns to 'E.T.' for 30th anniversary release

    By Randee Dawn, TODAY contributor

    When technology advanced far enough to let audiences wean themselves from analog video cassettes into the streamlined world of digital DVDs, many cheered. But for some, those cheers turned to boos when some directors decided to use the new digital tech to rejigger some of their most beloved movies. George Lucas got dunned for making adjustments to his "Star Wars" films, and Steven Spielberg took some heat when he sanitized 1982's "E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial" in 2002 by putting walkie-talkies in the hands of the FBI men, and taking out their rifles. 

    Now, in time for the film's 30th anniversary, Spielberg has decided to mend his ways by un-"mending" the film. The guns are coming back, according to Vulture.

    As Spielberg told an audience at a screening last fall, he  knows that he erred in editing them out in the first place.

    "I tried (changing a film) once and lived to regret it. Not because of fan outrage, but because I was disappointed in myself," said Spielberg. "I got overly sensitive to (some of the reaction) to 'E.T.' and I thought if technology ever evolved (I might go in and change some things) ... it was OK for a while, but I realized what I had done was I had robbed people who loved 'E.T.' of their memories of 'E.T.'"


    So for the Blu-Ray of "E.T.," which will be released in October, the firepower has been restored. Just check out the new trailer (at the top, around :25 is when the guns appear) and the old one (below; they're replaced with walkie-talkies around 1:13) to see the difference.

    Do you prefer having the film restored to its original version? Let us know on Facebook!

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  • 'War Horse' is a perfect family film

    DreamWorks

    Jeremy Irvine plays Albert Naracott, whose beloved horse Joey is taken off to World War I, in "War Horse."

    By Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, NBC News

    REVIEW

    Just the two words of the title may scare some potential moviegoers away. "War Horse" isn't a neutral title like "Secretariat," it hints to animal lovers that the beautiful creature seen in the trailers is going to be shot at, terrified, manhandled and might not survive.

    Spoiler alert: This is a PG-13, family friendly, Steven Spielberg movie, and animal lovers can breathe easy. "War Horse" is based on a book for 8-year-olds, and as befits that, the horse, Joey (Joey? Yes, Joey,) is carefully protected. Even battle-hardened army men go out of their way to keep him safe.

    Before he's a war horse, Joey belongs to a teenage farmboy named Albert (Jeremy Irvine), whose prideful drunk of a father (Peter Mullan) bought him for more money than he can afford. When World War I breaks out, Joey is sold to the British army.

    "Wherever you go, I will find you. I will bring you home," a desperate Albert vows. Sure, it's corny, but if you're not a little choked up by the end of this movie, you might not be human.

    In a twist that may surprise those unfamliar with the book or stage play, Joey bounces from army to army, military to civilian, his freakish luck and apparently irresistible charm keeping him safe.

    In one memorable scene, both sides actually call a halt to fighting to rescue Joey from a tangle of barbed wire, and a German soldier with a capital command of English helps a Brit set the horse free. The message is clear if simplistic: If they can come together and work toward a common goal to aid a suffering creature, why are they trying to kill each other?

    "War Horse" is breathtakingly shot, with some scenes so over-the-top lovely with flaming skies and velvety pastures that you're acutely aware you're watching a movie. Spielberg gets his details right, of course --  from music to uniforms to the muddy horror of the trenches, the ruin of landscapes and lives that the war creates.

    This film isn't really about great acting performances, but Irvine, Mullan, Emily Watson as Albert's mom, and the rest of the cast all do fine, with performances as earnest as the material.

    This is a perfect family film, just in time for the holiday break. Older kids will enjoy it but their parents will too. It's touching and heartwrenching, thrilling and cathartic.

    The horse may be the star, but in the end, "War Horse" is an undeniably human story.

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  • Will Indy die in 'Indiana Jones 5'?

    Paramount Pictures

    Indiana Jones will be back, Steven Spielberg says.

    By Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, NBC News

    Steven Spielberg didn't reveal too much about "Indiana Jones 5" in his lengthy interview with Entertainment Weekly, but fans and movie sites are digging out info anyway.

    The director did tell the magazine in its Dec. 9 cover story that in 2008's "Kingdom of the Crystal Skull," he enjoyed bringing out Jones' family, but was not so much in favor of introducing aliens.

    Spielberg insisted he was "really proud" of "Crystal Skull," despite having told a 30th-anniversary "Raiders of the Lost Ark" screening audience that he knew he burned bridges with that film.

    "It's public that George [Lucas] and I and Harrison [Ford] all had a clash about genre and concept," Spielberg told the magazine. "But I've always told George's stories. ... I am best friends with George and I am very obedient to the stories he writes. I'll fight things I don't believe in but ultimately, if George wants to bring interdimensional beings into 'Crystal Skull,' I will do the best job I possibly can to acquit George's idea and make him proud.

    Spielberg was asked about star Shia LaBeouf's criticisms of the film, but wouldn't comment. LaBeouf told the L.A. Times that he felt he as an actor "dropped the ball" on Jones' legacy, and "there was a reason" the film wasn't universally accepted.

    There's still a chance to redeem Indy's legacy, however. "[Lucas and I] have already agreed on the genre of the fifth movie, we already have a concept in mind," Spielberg told EW. "There is no 'Indy 5' until George says there is."

    Film blog Moviehole has a fun list of what's known about the fifth movie. Site editor Clint Morris tallies various reports and filmmaker comments and says in addition to no aliens, the film's unlikely to be set in the Bermuda Triangle (an early rumor), and that Lucas would like the film continuing on the same timeline, while Spielberg prefers the film would be a prequel to "Crystal Skull."  The site also says that despite his diss, Shia LaBeouf will likely return, and that despite another rumor to the contrary, Indy himself won't be killed off.

    Will you see a fifth "Indiana Jones" movie? Did "Crystal Skull" live up to the character's legacy? Tell us in the comments.

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