Steven Spielberg eyes Tom Hanks Cold War thriller as frenzy continues

Steven Spielberg is reportedly in talks to direct a Cold War thriller starring Tom Hanks.

By Oliver Gettell

April 22, 2014 10:37 AM PT

Another day, another potential Steven Spielberg movie.

As a number of competing projects and producers vie for the director’s attention to be his next film, Spielberg has added a Cold War thriller starring Tom Hanks to his ever-expanding list of candidates, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

The yet untitled film written by Matt Charman would tell the true story of James Donovan (Hanks), an American attorney who was enlisted by the CIA to slip behind the Iron Curtain and negotiate the release of downed U-2 spy plane pilot Gary Powers.

PHOTOS: Celebrities by The Times

Spielberg hasn’t made a movie since 2012’s “Lincoln,” and false starts on the sci-fi tentpole “Robopocalypse” and the military drama “American Sniper” left a vacuum that has been filled with numerous choices on his part -- and frenzied speculation on everyone else’s.

Although he has a number of projects on his development slate at the moment, Spielberg can only realistically deal with one or perhaps two at a time; the others would likely be handed off to other DreamWorks collaborators or simply fall by the wayside.

Another possibility is Spielberg returning to “Robopocalypse,” an adaptation of Daniel H. Wilson’s book about a futuristic war between robots and humans. Spielberg shelved the project in January 2013, but a rewrite has reportedly been completed.

Spielberg has also been linked to a historical epic about the Spanish conquistador Cortez based on a 50-year-old script by “Spartacus” scribe Dalton Trumbo, with a rewrite by Steve Zaillian (“Schindler’s List”).

PHOTOS: Stars who turned down, or were turned down for, famous roles

Two more projects on Spielberg’s plate that are in all likelihood not his next movie are the 19th-century religious drama “The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara,” based on David Kertzer’s nonfiction book, and another presidential drama, based on Doris Kearns Goodwin’s book “The Bully Pulpit” (Kearns also wrote “Team of Rivals,” which became the basis for “Lincoln”).

If Spielberg does make the Cold War thriller, it will mark his fourth film with Hanks, after “Saving Private Ryan,” “Catch Me If You Can” and “The Terminal.”

What film do you think Spielberg should direct next? Cast your vote in the poll below, and let us know why in the comments.