This is the closest that Steven Spielberg will probably ever get to an autobiography.
Though all the names have changed, The Fabelmans mirrors his childhood nearly beat-for-beat. For fans who’ve heard the iconic filmmaker talk about his life growing up in an Arizona suburb, they’ll recognize many of the moments teased in the first trailer for this fictionalized movie memoir. Blurring the lines even further is how Michelle Williams and Paul Dano have been made to look like Spielberg’s actual parents.
And while this will be Spielberg’s nostalgic look back at how he fell in love with the movies, it promises to also serve as his gracious, generous tribute to parents who divorced. If E.T. was a metaphor for that experience of coming from a broken family (and it was, by Spielberg’s admission), then this will be the more direct, soul-baring version of that telling.
Co-starring Seth Rogen, Judd Hirsch, and director David Lynch as director John Ford, the Oscar-hopeful will also introduce Mateo Zoryon Francis-DeFord and Gabriel LaBelle as, respectively, the boy and teenage versions of Spielberg’s alter ego, Sammy Fabelman.
Written by Spielberg and longtime collaborator Tony Kushner (Lincoln, Munich, West Side Story), The Fabelmans — which premiered to rapturous applause and tweets at the Toronto International Film Festival — will open in limited release on November 11, 2022 and go wide over the Thanksgiving holiday.
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