Blackhawks: Steven Spielberg’s DC Movie Appears to Still Be in the Works

Way back in 2018 it was revealed that none other than Oscar winner Steven Spielberg had been tapped by Warner Bros. to direct a feature adaptation of the Blackhawks comic characters. The filmmaker had been rumored to be taking on the film back in the 1980s before the filmmaker took on Raiders of the Lost Ark instead, but in the three years since he was officially tied to the movie the updates have been non-existent. At the time it was reported that screenwriter David Koepp, a frequent Spielberg collaborator, would pen the script, and thanks to Koepp it would appear that the movie is still in the works.

Though this update came a few months ago, days before Christmas in 2020 in fact, fans have just now noticed that Koepp teased the script for the film in a post on Instagram. “Not a terrible view for work today,” Koepp wrote in the caption of an image that includes his laptop which has the title page for the “Blackhawks” movie and a minor tease at a page of the script. Check it out for yourself below!

At the time that it was reported Spielberg was attached to the film, it was said that the director would move on to the DC Film after completing his remake of West Side Story. This was also at the time when Spielberg was attached to return for the fifth Indiana Jones movie, and even though he’s dropped out of that project (Logan’s James Mangold will now helm the movie) his schedule is still very full.

It seems like the next project that we’ll see from Spielberg is actually a smaller-scale drama, one based on his actual real-life childhood to boot. Spielberg is also attached to direct an adaptation of The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara, but it’s unclear if that film or even Blackhawks could be next.

It does seem worth noting however that if Blackhawk was no longer part of Warner Bros.’ plans for their DC slate they likely would have mentioned it. Though studios don’t often make a habit out of revealing which announced projects are no longer moving forward, but they did buck tradition a few weeks ago confirming that The New Gods and The Trench movies were no longer in active development at the studio.

In any event, development on Blackhawks was happening as recently as a few months ago, holding out hope that it could still make it to the big screen.