Steven Spielberg recently released his West Side Story remake, and is currently working on autobiographical drama The Fablemans, but that hasn’t stopped him looking ahead to future projects.
The legendary director is reportedly developing a film centered around Frank Bullitt, who was played by Steve McQueen in classic 1968 action film, Bullitt.
The Deadline report notes that this will not be a remake of that film, but instead a new idea based around the titular character, portrayed as a no-nonsense and intelligent San Francisco cop who, in the original film, goes after a mob boss who killed a witness he was trying to protect.
Spielberg will also produce the film alongside Kristie Macosko Krieger, with McQueen’s son Chad McQueen and granddaughter Molly McQueen executive producing. Josh Singer (First Man) will pen the script, and the film is currently scheduled to be distributed by Warner Bros.
The report stresses that the project is still in the very early stages of development, and it’s highly unlikely that this is the next film Spielberg directs. He’s a director known to work fast once a project gets rolling, so while he’s currently in post-production in The Fablemans, expect another film that’s further along in development to be Spielberg’s next gig behind the camera.
This Bullitt film has reportedly been a project Spielberg has had his eye on for a while now. He was toying with it as his West Side Story follow up, but negotiations with McQueen’s estate took longer than expected, so he shifted to The Fablemans. That film is based on his childhood in Arizona, and is set to arrive in November.
We’ll wait for more details regarding the Bullitt film to arrive. The idea of an original film based on an established character is a new trick Hollywood has been employing in recent years, but they haven’t tried it with a director as talented as Spielberg. As always, it will be fascinating to see what he has in store.
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