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Reports are circulating that Steven Spielberg has set "War Horse" as his next directing gig. The film is an adaptation of Michael Morpurgo's 1982 young adult novel about an English farm horse who is captured by the Germans on the battlefields of World War I. The horse's path continually intertwines with a young boy from his farm as war rages throughout Europe.

It sounds like a sweet enough tale — just don't get too used to the idea that it's coming anytime soon. While "War Horse" is being touted as Spielberg's next directing gig, the filmmaker is attached to a whole slew of other projects that have yet to come to fruition.

After the jump, we've listed a few of the films currently vying for Spielberg's attention. Read more...

Tags Harvey, indiana jones, lincoln, Matt Helm, Pirate Latitudes, Robopocalypse, steven spielberg, Untitled Gershwin Biopic, War Horse

In early August it was revealed that Steven Spielberg would next be directing "Harvey," a remake of the Jimmy Stewart-starring 1950 film about a man whose best friend is a 6-foot-tall invisible rabbit. Rumors pointed to Tom Hanks and, later, Robert Downey Jr. for the starring role of Elwood P. Dowd, but there's been little hard news on the project since the initial announcement.

Today brings some news, but it's shaped suspiciously like a big, fat coffin nail. Spielberg has withdrawn from the project, Variety reports. The trade reveals that the filmmaker had spent the past half year developing "Harvey," but that he's now dropped out for unspecified reasons. We can certainly theorize though. Read more...

Tags Harvey, robert downey jr., steven spielberg, tom hanks

Legendary filmmaker Steven Spielberg may be directing invisible rabbit remake "Harvey" next, but his follow-up gig may have just opened up. USA Today reports that DreamWorks is developing an adaptation of Michael Crichton's final, as-yet-unreleased novel "Pirate Latitudes," a 17th century adventure involving the water-borne bandits' plot to raid Port Royal and liberate of Spanish galleon of its valuable cargo. The novel isn't out until November 24, but David Koepp -- who previously adapted Crichton's "Jurassic Park" and "The Lost World" for Spielberg -- is already working on a script.

The question of course is whether Spielberg will direct or not. It certainly seems like a possibility, at least according to DreamWorks CEO Stacey Snider. "Anything that Michael wrote, Steven would be keenly interested to read," she said. "But without Michael knowing it, or even me knowing it, it turns out Steven always wanted to direct his own pirate film." Read more...

Tags david koepp, Harvey, michael crichton, Pirate Latitudes, steven spielberg

Lots of variety from Variety today. See what I did there? Yeah? Long day. Almost over. Enjoy the Dailies.

-- "School of Rock" writer Mike White sold the script for his "Babe in the Woods," an action-comedy in which a new student at Yale University somehow becomes the target of the New Jersey mob. I envision this as a cross between "PCU" and "The Sopranos." (Variety)

-- The announcement that Steven Spielberg's next project would be an adaptation of the Jimmy Stewart classic "Harvey" led many to speculate that Spielberg pal Tom Hanks would step into -- or at least be approached for -- the Stewart role. Fox hasn't exactly put those possibilities to rest, but they did issue a statement saying that the actor "has not read the script and speculation about him and this project has been inaccurate." So there you have it. (Variety) Read more...

Tags abigail breslin, Babe in the Woods, Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant, emma stone, Enter the Dragon, Gunsmoke, Harvey, Inherent Vice, Jesse Eisenberg, john c reilly, Ken Watanabe, mike white, Ninja Assassin, peter jackson, Rain, salma hayek, steven spielberg, The Lovely Bones, Thomas Pynchon, tom hanks, willem dafoe, woody harrelson, zombieland

I sort of worship at the altar of director Steven Spielberg. In 1975's "Jaws" the man introduced the world to the blockbuster, and with it hundreds of spectacle-filled summer weekends to come. He slips in and out of genres like seasonal outfits, wearing a thriller one year, a touching family drama another, a sci-fi end-of-world scenario in yet another. And next up? A taste of magical realism.

Mike Fleming reports for Variety that Spielberg's next directing gig will be a remake of the 1950 movie "Harvey," which is itself an adaptation of a Puliter Prize-winning 1944 play. It is the story of Elwood P. Dowd, an odd dude whose best friend is Harvey, a six foot tall, invisible rabbit. And since Elwood insists on introducing his furry pal to everyone, people tend to think he's... well... not so right in the head. Read more...

Tags george clooney, Harvey, steven spielberg, tom hanks