Amblin – the production company founded by Steven Spielberg, which produced science-fiction classics like E.T, Back To The Future and Gremlins – is heading back to the genre for a new project entitled The Fall.
This is not, sadly, a biopic of Manchester-based post-punk band The Fall (though the life of Mark E. Smith is surely fertile ground for a filmmaker). Nor is it to be confused with one of over a dozen films listed on IMDB with the same name. Nor the philosophical novel by Albert Camus.
No, this The Fall is an alien invasion thriller, from a script by Australian writer Pete Bridges. It will apparently deal with a divorced couple who attempt to rescue their home-alone children in the Atlanta suburbs, during an extraterrestrial siege. It may or may not take place in 'the fall', as Americans like to call autumn.
There’s no word on who will star or direct yet, though it seems somewhat unlikely that Señor Speilbergo will take it himself. The veteran filmmaker has a lot on his plate at the moment: currently promoting The BFG, which is near release, he will next be filming sci-fi adaptation Ready Player One, which has already begun production in London; after that, he has an adaptation of The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara; and the not inconsiderable matter of a fifth Indiana Jones film, which locks his schedule up until at least 2019.
Not only that, but The Fall sounds somewhat similar to Spielberg’s earlier alien film The War Of The Worlds, so he may wish to avoid material which repeats himself.
Spielberg’s company, Amblin has experienced something of a revival in recent years after the creation of Amblin Partners, a co-producing deal between several producers and studios.