FROM THE NEWS ARCHIVES OF CINEMA CONFIDENTIAL

Steven Spielberg to direct sci-fi project
POSTED ON 06/15/06 AT 1:30 P.M.
BY ETHAN AAMES

The Hollywood Reporter reports that Steven Spielberg is set to direct an untitled sci-fi feature for Paramount Pictures. Not much is known about the cryptic project, other than that it will be centered around Caltech physicist Kip Thorne's theories of gravity fields. The movie is based on a treatment by Thorne with help from producer Lynda Obst.

Thorne's treatment involves the theory of black holes and gravity waves and touch on some of the hypotheses developed by Albert Einstein chased but never could prove. It is unclear how Thorne's scientific theories will evolve into a film-ready narrative, but the concept has been described as in the vein of "2001: A Space Odyssey."

Obst ("How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days") will produce the film through her Paramount-based shingle.

The movie is likely to be three or four years away from production. Spielberg has two other projects in the works: "Indiana Jones 4" or his untitled Abraham Lincoln biopic.