Entertainment news and discussion on TalkFuse.
In 1987, Steven Spielberg was forced to quit his next movie. $400 million and four Oscars later, he wished he hadn’t
Steven Spielberg left Rain Man in 1987 to honour a commitment to direct Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade for George Lucas. The decision meant missing out on a film that later won major Oscars, a loss Spielberg said he regretted.
Spielberg had worked on Rain Man for about a year and a half before stepping aside, with Barry Levinson taking over and directing Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman. The film earned about $400 million, was nominated for eight Academy Awards and won four, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor for Hoffman. Spielberg later won Best Picture and Best Director for Schindler’s List.
In short
- Spielberg left Rain Man to direct Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.
- Rain Man earned about $400 million and won four Oscars.
- Spielberg later said he wondered if he should have chosen differently.
Steelman: both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Spielberg had made a prior commitment to George Lucas, and honouring it showed reliability and respect for a creative partnership. A director may also reasonably choose a project that fits an existing collaboration and offers a different artistic challenge, even when another film has strong potential.
The case against
Having spent about a year and a half developing Rain Man, Spielberg could reasonably have judged that staying would best serve the work and his own creative ambitions. Its later acclaim and his reported regret suggest that leaving meant giving up a rare opportunity to shape a film that became both a major success and an award-winning achievement.