No 'Robopocalypse' for Spielberg as director nixes movie plans

No ‘Robopocalypse’ for Spielberg as director nixes movie plans

Jan. 09, 2013 | 5:15 p.m.

Steven Spielberg. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

It must have seemed like a dream come true for Daniel H. Wilson when filmmaker Steven Spielberg scooped up the rights to his not-yet-complete sci-fi novel “Robopocalypse,” a cautionary tale in which an artificial intelligence releases a virus that leads the planet’s network of machines to violently turn on the human race.

Today, it looks like the dream has been put on hold.

As first reported by The Hollywood Reporter, Spielberg has nixed plans to shoot the literary adaptation.

The news comes on the eve of the nominations for the 85th Academy Awards — Spielberg’s drama “Lincoln” is widely tipped as a likely competitor in a number of categories, including best picture.

Spielberg’s deep résumé of beloved genre fare, of course, includes “War of the Worlds,” “Minority Report” and “A.I. Artificial Intelligence,” not to mention such landmark films as “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial” and “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.” It would have been fascinating to see his take on the debut novel from Wilson, a robotics engineer turned author.

“Robopocalypse” had been set for release in 2014; the movie will now head back into development.

– Gina McIntyre

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