The ‘Berg Just Got Busier

If it's true that idle hands do the devil's work then Steven Spielberg must have the most godly mitts in all of Hollywood. The director has just added another film to his already jam-packed slate, an untitled project detailing the aftermath of the 1972 Munich Olympics. Why is that bad, you ask? Well, add that to The Rivals and the Tom Cruise collaboration War of The Worlds, and you have a line-up of three upcoming projects - none of which are Indiana Jones IV. On the off chance you remain blissfully unaware of historic events, the 1972 Munich massacre saw six Arab terrorists climb the fence surrounding the Olympic village and storm the apartments housing the Israeli contingent, killing two athletes and holding a further nine hostage. The incident concluded with a shootout at Munich airport where all nine hostages, five of the terrorists and one policeman were killed. The tragic events were chronicled in Touching the Void director Kevin MacDonald's Oscar-winning documentary, One Day in September. Spielberg will direct a script by The Insider and Forrest Gump scribe Eric Roth and sources indicate that Ben Kingsley will re-unite with his Schindler's List director to take a starring role. Spielberg has apparently been flirting with this project for some time, but recently the DreamWorks/Paramount co-venture has been fast-tracked for a June start date, in locations across Europe. All of which is great, but it does cast uncertainty over when we're likely to see our favourite whip-wielding archaeologist return. Indy IV has so far been slated for a 2006 release but with the 'Berg busy for the foreseeable, all bets would now seem to be off. Keep your fingers, legs and natty Fedoras crossed, people, and maybe Indy will ride again...