In the new issue of Empire, out today, we have an exclusive interview with Steven Spielberg on the subject of The Adventures Of Tintin: The Secret Of The Unicorn*. But while we were chatting to the former Empire editor and uber-director, we asked a little about two of his future projects, Lincoln and Robopocalypse.

Of the Presidential biopic, this is what Spielberg had to say: "We start shooting in October. Doris Kearns Goodwin's book Team Of Rivals is much too big a book to be a movie, so the Lincoln story only takes place in the last few months of his Presidency and life. I was interested in how he ended the war through all the efforts of his generals...but more importantly how he passed the 13th Amendment into constitutional law. The Emancipation Proclamation was a war powers act and could have been struck down by any court after the war ended...But what permanently ended slavery was the very close vote in the House of Representatives over the 13th Amendment - that story I'm excited to tell."

But how will he tell it? Is this Amistad 2? "Amistad is much more visual than Lincoln is going to be. It feels very much like a procedural. It shows Lincoln at work, not just Lincoln standing around posing for the history books...arguably the greatest working President in American history doing some of the greatest work for the world."

For more on working with Daniel Day-Lewis as Honest Abe, pick up the new issue of Empire.

And what about the none-more-contrasting Robopocalypse? How's that shaping up? "It reminded me of Michael Crichton. I'm in pre-production on it right now. I'm hoping to start shooting the picture some time in '12. I don't exactly know when, hopefully some time this summer, for a '13 release."

The Adventures Of Tintin: The Secret Of The Unicorn is out on October 26, and you can read all about it in the new issue of Empire, out today! 

*And for that matter, we interviewed the rest of the cast as well, including Andy Serkis, Jamie Bell and Peter Jackson.