Movie on Spielberg's Childhood Nabs Another Big Name

Seth Rogen will play role of director's favorite uncle, joining Michelle Williams in the cast
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 23, 2021 11:27 AM CDT
Movie on Spielberg's Childhood Nabs Another Big Name
Steven Spielberg is seen at the Oscars on Feb. 9, 2020, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.   (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

A movie based on Steven Spielberg's boyhood in Arizona is in its earliest stages, and a big name has reportedly been picked to play someone close to the acclaimed director's heart. Per Deadline, which says casting for the film has been "super secretive," sources say Seth Rogen is set to take on the role of Spielberg's favorite uncle, joining Michelle Williams, who's already been tapped to play a character inspired by the director's mother. Spielberg will be co-writing the screenplay (something he last did two decades ago for AI) with Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Tony Kushner, who's worked with Spielberg before on such movies as Munich and Lincoln.

Kushner also worked with Spielberg on his upcoming West Side Story remake, which was originally set to arrive in theaters for the 2020 holiday season but was postponed by COVID, notes IGN. It now looks like that film will hit the big screen during the next holiday season. The 38-year-old Rogen, who most recently starred in and produced Long Shot, also has a book coming out in May: Yearbook, a collection of personal essays. The Wrap notes that the unnamed Spielberg film, which is currently screen-testing actors to play the lead character based on a young Spielberg, will follow that character's relationship with his parents over the years. Spielberg's film will head into production this summer, with a planned release at an unspecified time in 2022. (More Seth Rogen stories.)

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