海角大神

We鈥檙e closing in on two years from when the last Steven Spielberg-directed movie (the Oscar-winner听)听hit听theaters. Since then, the filmmaker has been linked to a couple projects (Robopocalypse,听Gods and Kings)听that have since either been听听or fallen into development hell. Recently, the word鈥檚 been that Spielberg will next direct a currently-untitled Cold War drama, followed by a听live-action movie based on听Roald Dahl鈥檚听; we can confirm the news, as听these films now have official release dates.

Spielberg鈥檚听E.T.听screenwriter Melissa Mathison was听听to adapt听The听BFG听鈥� Dahl鈥檚 book about the young orphan Sophie, who befriends the听whimsical, dream-delivering,听Big Friendly Giant, BFG for short. As for Spielberg鈥檚 Cold War drama, the script by Matt Charman tells the true story U.S. attorney James Donovan, who negotiated the release of an American pilot captured by the Soviet Union during the Cold War; we learned that Chapman鈥檚 screenplay has been听.

Previously, it was indicated that it鈥檚 Spielberg鈥檚 intention to shoot his Cold War drama (starring Tom Hanks as Mr. Donovan) in the months ahead, before he starts production on the听听in 2015. We can now confirm that will happen, as Walt Disney Pictures 鈥� which is co-backing the dual DreamWorks鈥� projects 鈥� has announced that Spielberg鈥檚 latest period drama/thriller will hit theaters on October 16th, 2015, followed by听The BFG听some 8-9 months later on July 1st, 2016.

The combination of Spielberg, Coen Brothers, Hanks, and historical subject matter with relevant political overtones, makes this Cold War project sound rather intriguing; no wonder, then, it鈥檚 been positioned as a prospective awards season contender. As it stands, Spielberg鈥檚 drama will only听have opening weekend competition in Guillermo del Toro鈥檚 haunted house film throwback,; we expect that the two movies will be able to coexist in peace, as far as box office goes.

BFG听currently听has opening weekend competition from the听听animated feature,听and the听听reboot by director David Yates (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 & 2). Logic suggests Warner Bros. will blink and shift听Tarzan听to another date before 20th Century Fox budges on having听Independence Day 2听in theaters by the Fourth of July holiday frame. We鈥檝e still听got over听two years to go until then, so听there鈥檚 a very good chance that at least听oneof these four movies will have moved away by that time.

As we鈥檝e said before, this is classic Spielberg: release two film in close proximity, with each movie being rather different in terms of style, budget, tone, and overall听content. Spielberg has generally done very good听work by using this approach, most recently with听War Horse听and听Adventures of Tintinin 2011 鈥� and even听some of the best films of his career in the past (see:听Jurassic Park听andSchindler鈥檚 List听in 1993). So, for our money, this is an encouraging development.

Sandy Schaefer blogs at .