Steven Spielberg recounts the failure Robopocalypse, his great aborted sci-fi film

A very big budget project, starring Chris Hemsworth, that he was never able to put together…

Why did Steven Spielberg never direct Robopocalypse?

In the latest issue of Empire Magazinethe cult director returned to this XXL feature film project that he never managed to bring to fruition, an adaptation of the science fiction novel by Daniel H. Wilson (2011) recounting a robot rebellion which plunges humanity into a war against artificial intelligence.

In 2010, Spielberg signed on to direct the film, with a screenplay by Drew Goddard. Filming was planned for 2012, with a release scheduled for 2013. The casting promised something heavy: Chris Hemsworth was to meet Anne Hathaway and Ben Whishaw.

But things got complicated quickly. In 2012, the release was pushed back to 2014. Then, in 2013, Spielberg put the project on indefinite hiatus before abandoning production. In Empirehe explains that the colossal budget of the film weighed in his decision:

“It was a gargantuan budget. A film that could have sunk an entire production company! It would have ruined a studio that would never have recouped its investment. I literally predicted that it would be the most expensive film I would ever make… and in fact, I wasn’t ready to take on that.”

To finance Robopocalypse the filmmaker tried to bring other studios into the project, whose budget would have exceeded 200 million dollars. His company, DreamWorks, cannot carry the film alone:

“My company, DreamWorks, financed all my films, and I didn’t want to do Robopocalypse at home, because it would have been too expensive. So I went to see other studios. I didn’t want to pay, but others were willing to finance it, as long as I was the director. But upon arrival, I didn’t want to put anyone at risk, because I couldn’t guarantee a sufficient audience…”

In 2018, Spielberg will end up handing the baby over to Michael Bay. Since then, no news.

Steven Spielberg’s next sci-fi film will be like this Disclosure Daywhich will be released in theaters on June 10, 2026 in France.