The godfather of the modern blockbuster isn’t going anywhere. On Thursday, Steven Spielberg was honored with the dedication of a screening room at Universal, the studio where he launched his filmmaking career. Speaking at the event (via The Hollywood Reporter), Spielberg said he viewed the current moment in cinema as a rebirth—“And I don’t mean Jurassic World Rebirth opening July 2,” he joked, referencing the franchise he created and continues to produce. “I mean the rebirth of the belief in the people that work as a family, as a community, as a team to make good [things] happen,” the 78-year-old said, ending his remarks with the declaration: “Just know that I love all of you, I’m making a lot of movies, and I have no plans, ever, to retire.”
Spielberg’s comments echo that of the 81-year-old Martin Scorsese, who reassured the world last year that he’s “not saying goodbye to cinema at all,” and in fact still has “more films to make, and I hope God gives me the strength to make them.” Similarly, 86-year-old Ridley Scott told The Hollywood Reporter he’d quit when he’s dead. Perhaps the only modern auteur who has stated a desire is 62-year-old Quentin Tarantino, who wants to finish with a 10th film. (Scorsese reacted to this news by agreeing he’s simply built different, while Scott scoffed, “I don’t fucking believe that bullshit. Shut up and go make another movie.”)
Steven Spielberg’s Universal theater dedication was a star-studded event attended by the likes of John Travolta, Vin Diesel, Dakota Fanning, Seth Rogen, Jeff Goldblum, John M. Chu, Ava DuVernay, the Daniels, and more. According to Variety, the room got to see some of the first footage from the iconic director’s upcoming sci-fi film, rumored to be a UFO thriller starring Emily Blunt, Colin Firth, Colman Domingo, Eve Hewson, and Josh O’Connor (who previously teased the movie is “old-school Spielberg” in the vein of Close Encounters or E.T.). Asked which up-and-coming filmmakers Spielberg himself has his eye on, he told the outlet, “There are so many that excite me right now, and it’s not just that they’re young. It’s the kind of stories they have to tell. If I name one, I’ll have to name the last 50.” But in the words of NBCUniversal Entertainment and Studios chairman Donna Langley, the studio hopes its new theater “is not just a place founded on Steven’s extraordinary legacy, but a place of future hopes and dreams of storytellers who are going to take this company into the next 100 years, and the 100 years after that.”
