Spielberg On the Verge of the 'Robopocalypse'

It looks like Steven Spielberg may have found his next project. After seeing his Harvey remake fizzle, which itself happened after Spielberg looked at and passed on Matt Helm, and after another pronounced avoidance of that Abe Lincoln bio-pic, Spielberg's next close encounter may be with Robopocalypse. Drew Goddard (Cloverfield) has been hired to write the adaptation of Daniel H. Wilson's sci-fi book, according to Deadline Hollywood. Wilson, who holds a Ph.D. in robotics, has written some humorous novels before, like How to Build a Robot Army: Tips on Defending Planet Earth Against Aliens, Ninjas, and Zombies and How to Survive a Robot Uprising: Tips on Defending Yourself Against the Coming Rebellion, but this is supposedly more serious. This one's not locked into place, and I'm certainly not opposed to Spielberg going back to sci-fi. The only thing I want from him now is movies that don't have awful tacked-on bookends like the ones that crippled A.I.. Beyond that, though, he's one of the godfathers of modern sci-fi movies, and with his new DreamWorks deal, he is unquestionably looking to make a splash. Perhaps that's why Spielberg, who could more or less make any movie he wants, has been vacillating between so many prospective films in the past six to eight months. Deadline lists three more that have caught Spielberg's eye, if only briefly. But he hasn't taken the plunge on any of them, and that's rare in his career. Between now and whenever whatever comes out, Spielberg has directed Tintin, which will be out next Christmas. But that's an inordinately long time to go between Spielberg flicks.