Acclaimed director Steven Spielberg has set his next film. Following up on the heels of his critically acclaimed remake of West Side Story, The Fabelmans will be a semi-autobiographical take on the iconic filmmakers’ childhood growing up in postwar America.

Development of The Fabelmans dates back more than twenty years. Back then, Spielberg’s sister, Anne, penned a script about their family life titled I’ll Be Home Soon. The story never went anywhere due to Spielberg’s fears of how to properly represent something based so much on his own life. In a 2002 interview, Spielberg said, "I'm still nervous about exposing myself so publicly - it's so close to my life and so close to my family - I prefer to make films that are more analogous. But a literal story about my family will take a lot of courage.”

Now, two decades later, it seems as though Spielberg is finally ready to share his story, albeit through the eyes of a fictional family known as The Fabelmans. With that in mind, let’s take a look at everything we know about the director’s upcoming film. What will the plot entail, and how closely will it adhere to Spielberg’s life? Who has been lined up in the cast? When and where can we expect to see it released? And what else should audiences know about The Fabelmans?

The Plot

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Photo: Gage Skidmore

Not much is known about plot specifics at this point, other than what we already know about its autobiographical nature. We know that the film will trace Spielberg’s childhood, chronicling how he developed his love for filmmaking. In an interview with DiscussingFilm, Spielberg’s longtime cinematographer Janusz Kaminski said:

“It’s a very emotional movie that tells the story of Spielberg from the age of seven to eighteen. It deals with his family, with his parents, conundrums with his sisters, but primarily deals with his passion for movie-making.”“It’s a very beautiful, beautiful personal movie. It’s very revealing about Steven’s life and who he is as a filmmaker.”

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Kaminski noted that the film will explore how Spielberg’s passion for film developed out of the struggles he faced in his early life. It will not shy away from more difficult subjects, such as divorce or the anti-Semitism that Spielberg’s family faced as a part of his Jewish upbringing. This gives audiences just enough information to know what to expect from the film while keeping specific details under wraps in order to build anticipation.

The Cast & Crewthe-fabelmans-first-look-reveals-michelle-williams-in-steven-spielbergs-childhood-tale.jpg

The Fabelmans will boast a sprawling cast of both A-listers and lesser-known actors starring as influential figures from Spielberg’s life. Michelle Williams and Seth Rogen will lead the cast, with Williams’ role being inspired by Spielberg’s mother and Rogen’s by his uncle. Additionally, Paul Dano will play a character based on Spielberg’s father, Arnold. Newcomer Gabriel LaBelle will be playing Sammy Fabelman, an aspiring young filmmaker based on Spielberg himself. Julia Butters is portraying Sammy's sister Anne Fabelman, who is based on Spielberg's real-life sister Anne.

A number of other actors have been cast in as-of-yet unspecified roles, including Judd Hirsch, Jeannie Berlin, Robin Bartlett, and Jonathan Hadary, who are set to star as older relatives of the Fabelman family. Spielberg’s high school classmates will be played by actors Chloe East, Oakes Fegley, Sam Rechner, and Isabelle Kusman, and younger friends of his are being portrayed by Gustavo Escobar, Nicolas Cantu, Cooper Dodson, Stephen Smith, and Lane Factor. More young actors have been confirmed as the director’s siblings at various points in their lives, including Keeley Karsten, Birdie Borria, Alina Brace, Mateo Zoryon Francis-DeFord, and Sophia Kopera.

Finally, rounding out the cast, director David Lynch has joined in an unknown role. Interestingly, this marks the first collaboration between the two legendary directors.

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Release Date

Set to be distributed by Universal Pictures, The Fabelmans will open in theaters on November 23, 2022. Receiving a wide release on the Wednesday of Thanksgiving week, Universal is clearly betting on the holiday weekend to attract a big audience for the big-name director.

Everything Else: What We Know

A new video from CBS' 60 Minutes shows composer John Williams conducting the Star Wars: The Force Awakens opening scene score.
CBS

Audience expectations will likely be different for this film, as the only one who will truly know how close the story is to real-life may be Spielberg himself. However, despite Spielberg's apparent change in style, viewers should rest assured that the film will have the same heart that the director has brought to his work for more than 40 years. The Fabelmans marks the first time that Spielberg has written or co-written one of his films since 2001’s A.I. Artificial Intelligence. Legendary composer John Williams will contribute the film score for his 29th collaboration with Spielberg. Cinematographer Janusz Kaminski has also shot every one of Spielberg’s films since 1993’s Schindler’s List.

All that audiences can do now is wait and see if the film lives up to the highs that we all know and love from Spielberg’s career.