If you’ve read my articles on this site at all, you probably know that I think Steven Spielberg is the GOAT. The guy has tackled the ocean, the suburbs, the dinosaur age, and the beaches of Normandy.
And during all of that, there’s been one genre he has not explored. One that we saw hints of in The Fabelmans and one that’s shaped his entire career: the Western.
No Film School was at SXSW this week, where, sitting down with Sean Fennessey for The Big Picture, Spielberg finally stopped teasing and started promising his next movie.
We did a recap of that epic convo, too.
And in it, we learned he’s got a Western in development. And in true Spielberg fashion, he didn’t just say it’s happening; he said it’s going to be “kick-ass.”
Let’s dive in.
A Western Without the Baggage
Making a modern Western is always tricky. You want it to be relevant for the old and new, and you also have to have something to say wrapped up in it.
Westerns are the foundational myth of American cinema, but it’s also a genre built on some pretty gnarly stuff that hasn’t aged well. Spielberg knows this. He told the crowd in Austin that while his movie will have the essentials:
Can’t reveal anything right now, but I have a western in development… and it kicks ass […] There will be horses. There will be guns. There will be no tropes, I can tell you that. There’s going to be no stereotypes.
For those of us obsessed with movies, this is so exciting. I can’t wait to see this deconstruction of these myths, and also how Spielberg will script and shoot the story.
I mean, how do you take the most rigid genre in history and find a new way in? And one so established with visuals, what’s the way forward there?
What Spielbergian shots will we get on horseback?
The sky is the limit.
Summing It All Up
It’s hard not to freak out with excitement over the idea of this movie. I’d better start exercising and taking my vitamins, because I want to make sure I get to see it as many times as possible.
What I love about Spielberg is that he keeps challenging himself and seeing what he can do as an artist. It’s a good idol for all of us and a good reminder to keep chasing what excites you.
Let me know what you think in the comments.