Though it was set to begin shooting this year, Steven Spielberg has thrown the off switch on techno-fear adaptation Robopocalypse, putting the sci-fi project on indefinite hold.
Despite having Anne Hathaway and Chris Hemsworth in negotiations for two of the lead roles, the director has decided that it all needs more work before he’ll consider shooting. According to spokesman Martin Levy, who spoke to the Hollywood Reporter, the film as it stands is "too important and the script is not ready, and it's too expensive to produce. It's back to the drawing board to see what is possible."
That may mean that the script, adapted by Cabin In The Woods’ Drew Goddard from Daniel H Wilson’s book, will be heavily retooled.
Lest anyone think that this means Idris Elba will stride in to announce that they’re cancelling the robopocalypse, it would appear that this is just a delay to get the project into shape. However, the “indefinite hold” bit gives us pause, as it’s not the first time that the film has been shoved into limbo. Spielberg was supposed to make it before Lincoln, but the presidential pic leapfrogged it when the stars aligned for its production first.
So 20th Century Fox and DreamWorks will have to go on waiting for a project that was attracting plenty of buzz. There’s no word yet on what Spielberg will now decide to slot into his schedule, but we can't imagine he'll have trouble rustling something up.