Steven Spielberg may be 75-years old, but he’s not slowing down anytime soon. According to Deadline, the famed director is now attached to helm a new film featuring Frank Bullitt, a character originally portrayed by screen icon Steve McQueen in one of the greatest movies of the ’60s, Bullitt. However, the report notes that this will not be a remake of Bullitt. Instead, it will simply be a new story featuring Frank Bullitt as the main character.
Bullitt was one of the most famous movies made by McQueen during his career. It was based on Robert L. Fish’s 1963 novel, Mute Witness. Within the film, Frank Bullitt was a San Francisco police detective who was assigned to protect a mobster named Johnny Ross in order for Ross to give testimony at an organized crime hearing in a Senate subcommittee. After the mob successfully kills Ross ahead of time, Frank hides the evidence of Ross’ death in order to give himself more time to investigate and bring the killers to justice.
Apparently, the McQueen family retained the rights for this character, since Spielberg wouldn’t sign on until a deal was in place with McQueen’s estate. McQueen’s son, Chad McQueen, and his granddaughter, Molly McQueen, are also attached to executive produce the new film.
Warner Bros. Pictures and Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment will produce the new Bullitt movie, while WB will distribute it worldwide. Josh Singer has already signed on to write the script, while Kristie Macosko Krieger will executive produce it alongside Spielberg.
Spielberg is coming off of his West Side Story remake, which is up for several awards at this year’s Oscar ceremony. But he is already filming his next movie, The Fablemans, which is loosely based upon his own life. Universal Pictures will release The Fablemans in November of this year.
Surprisingly, the Bullitt film will not be Spielberg’s next project after The Fablemans, simply because the script isn’t ready. That means Spielberg will likely helm another project while Bullitt moves through the writing process, but it remains to be seen which film that will be.
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