Deadline are reporting that Steven Spielberg (Lincoln, War Horse) is circling yet another period epic as his next directorial piece – Montezuma.
The film is based on the Spanish infiltration into Mexico in 1519, led by Hernán Cortés. The Conquistador and his men brought with them arms, a lust for riches, and, most dangerously in the end, smallpox, causing the fall of the Aztec Empire. Montezuma was the Aztec ruler at the time, whom Cortés developed a close relationship with when he was captured, having a child with his daughter. This is movie news, by the way. Not a history lesson.
Javier Bardem (Skyfall, The Counselor) is apparently interested in playing Cortés, who would be the film’s lead character.
The script has suffered an interesting life, having originally been written for Kirk Douglas in 1965 by Dalton Trumbo (Spartacus, Lonely Are the Brave), but the film was never made. Part of the Hollywood Ten, Trumbo had previously been blacklisted by the movie business when he refused to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1947 as part of Senator Joseph McCarthy’s anti-Communist agenda. Remember: this is still a film article.
Steven Zaillian (who worked on Spielberg’s Oscar-winning Schindler’s List) is now producing and rewriting Trumbo’s near-50-year-old script. Whether Montezuma will be Spielberg’s next film remains to be seen, but, if rumours are to be believed, it’s certainly a possibility.
Originally published January 6, 2014. Updated April 11, 2018.
