Monthly Archives: July 2009

An interesting story about the one-and-only Steven Spielberg has popped up today on Variety . They’re reporting that Spielberg is “seriously considering” directing a project tentatively called Matt Helm . Helm is based on a series of 27 novels written by Donald Hamilton about a government agent whose mission is to take down enemy agents. While the novels were set in the post-WWII Cold War era, the current script is set in the present. The latest draft of the script, written by Paul Attanasio ( Sphere , The Sum of All Fears , The Good German ), was what sparked Spielberg’s recent interest in the project. I like the sound of it so far. The reason why Spielberg isn’t confirmed for this yet is because Matt Helm is one of the (many) projects that were left behind at Paramount when DreamWorks split from the company late last year . Therefore, if Spielberg were to come on and direct, they would need to work out a lot of major issues between the two companies as well as DreamWorks’ new finance partner. Whatever happens, Spielberg will still produce in the end, along with screenwriters Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci. Paramount is interested in making the movie, in hopes of launching a franchise, but might go with a less expensive filmmaker over Spielberg. Wikipedia describes Matt Helm as “a U.S. government counter-agent —a man whose primary job is to kill or nullify enemy agents—not a spy or secret agent in the ordinary sense of the term as used in spy thrillers.” The closest Spielberg comparison I can make is Minority Report , considering that dealt with an “agent” of sort whose job it was to prevent murders, although there was plenty of agent nullifying going on near the end. Obviously Matt Helm won’t be set in the future, but I expect it to have a similar feel. To be honest, I’ll be excited for whatever it is Spielberg directs next, whether it’s Lincoln , Indiana Jones 5 , or Matt Helm . Discover More: Movie News , Opinions