Update on Steven Spielberg's WWII-Set DC Movie BLACKHAWKS, Which Will Cost $200 Million To Make
It’s been over four years since it was announced that Steven Spielberg would be producing a feature film adaptation of the DC Comics property Blackhawks. The project is set up at Warner Bros. through his Amblin Entertainment, and there’s a possibility that he will direct.
This has been a slow-moving project, but it’s still in development! Blackhawk was first introduced in 1941 by Quality Comics before the property was acquired by DC Comics in 1957. In the comics, Blackhawk was the leader of the Blackhawk Squadron, an elite team of ace pilots that fought in World War II.
The movie was written by David Koepp, who has collaborated with Spielberg on films such as Jurassic Park, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, War of the Worlds, and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. He offered an update on the project in an interview with Collider revealing that it will need a budget of $200 million to make:
"We have a script that's very good and we all think it's very good. There were a lot of management changes at Warner Bros, so I think we've just been kind of waiting for that to settle down, and for them to decide what they want to do with their DC Universe. Obviously I hope he does it or if he doesn't direct it, I hope he produces it, someone great directs. Because it would be a great deal of fun. I'm very fond of the script and I hope it comes together. But again, that's one of those movies that's gonna need $200 million so, trying to get those whales off the beach is a big process."
Yep, $200 million is a lot of money! But, Blackhawks could make for a hell of a great film! When asked if the film would be set in the DCEU, Koepp said:
"It would be hard because it's 1941 or 1940, actually. So it would be a little tricky. As we were developing the script, we said 'Hey, let's make one great movie. It's 1940, that's the way it is.' And if it works out and in the future they decide they want to unite anybody, I'm sure time travel will not be a problem. Because comic books have a great way of figuring that stuff out. 'We need Wonder Woman to be there!' Fine. Well, then she can, because of the 'Prometheus Portal'. I'm like 'what's the Prometheus Portal.' 'You don't know about the Prometheus Portal?'"
I hope Blackhawks is a standalone film with no crossovers. It doesn’t need to include Wonder Woman or any of the other DC characters. The story is strong enough to stand on its own. Blackhawk was created by Will Eisner, Bob Powell and Chuck Cuidera. Here are the details from DC:
Blackhawk is an ace pilot, fighting for the Allies with his fabled Blackhawk Squadron. One of the Quality Comics heroes, Blackhawk has been around since the war, and had several reboots and retcons since then.
The original Golden Age hero was Blackhawk, an American fighting for Poland during the invasion. After his brother and sister (a doctor and nurse) were killed in a bombing by the German commander Von Tepp, Blackhawk gathered pilots from other occupied countries to form the Blackhawk Squadron. These adventures lasted until well after the war.
Spielberg is keeping busy and has a couple of other projects already lined up, so I don’t know if he’ll actually get around to directing Blackhawks. He’s currently making The Fabelmans, he’s making a new Bullitt movie, and he’s planning a western. But who knows, maybe he’ll actually be able to fit Blackhawks into his busy schedule.