(Updated 11/14/2022)
Steven Spielberg has told many stories in his five-decade career as a filmmaker; now he is about to tell his own. THE FABELMANS is heavily inspired by Spielberg's childhood and teen years and depicts a fictionalized version of the director himself. If you've ever wondered how a guy like Steven Spielberg becomes a guy like Steven Spielberg, THE FABELMANS is for you.
The trailer gives us a good sense of what to expect from THE FABELMANS. Basically, Spielberg's trademark sense of wonder, turned inward. We can tell you quite a few things that aren't in the trailer based on many interviews Spielberg has given over the years in which he discusses his own childhood. Here's everything we know about THE FABELMANS.
The Fabelmans Release Date
Spielberg's new movie THE FABELMANS will be in theatres just in time for Thanksgiving.It opens in New York and Los Angeles on November 11, then opens in more cities on Wednesday, November 23.
Watch the Emotional First Trailer for The Fabelmans
The first trailer for THE FABELMANS premiered online just after the movie itself premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. That's the full trailer above, and it is wonderful — this FABELMANS trailer evokes all of our favorite Spielberg movie qualities and promises a dramatic look at the filmmaker's formative years.
The Origin of The Fabelmans
As far back as the late 1990s, Steven Spielberg was talking about making a movie inspired by his experiences growing up. He expressed concern that his parents might be offended by a depiction of them, which he was keen to avoid. Now, more than 20 years later he's finally making the movie.
Early drafts of THE FABELMANS, then called I'LL BE HOME, were written by Steven Spielberg's sister Anne. The final screenplay is credited as a collaboration between Spielberg himself and playwright Tony Kushner.
That's an interesting pairing. Kushner also wrote Spielberg's new version of WEST SIDE STORY, which opened last December. That collaboration was obviously a fruitful one, and we can't wait to see how Spielberg and Kushner develop this story. Notably, this will be Spielberg’s first screenwriting credit since A.I. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE. In fact, A.I. dates back to the general time when he first started talking about making this movie.
What Is The Fabelmans About?
The short answer to "what is THE FABELMANS about?" is that it's about Steven Spielberg's childhood. The movie covers about 10 years of his life, from ages 7 to 18. We'll likely see his family's move to Arizona, where Spielberg became acutely aware of his Jewish background, and where his parents were often the only Jewish family living in their neighborhood. It also covers the time in which Spielberg made his first home movies and ultimately made a feature film.
Part of Spielberg's early interest in filmmaking was, he has said, due to the sense of control it afforded him. There's a good chance that the events of THE FABELMANS will show the days when life events left Spielberg feeling as if he had little control, which led to the filmmaking experiments that gave some sense of order and stability that was missing elsewhere in his life.
Spielberg’s regular cinematographer Janusz Kamiński said this year that THE FABELMANS is about Spielberg’s "family, with his parents, conundrums with his sisters, but primarily deals with his passion for movie-making." He also explained that the movie is crafted around themes such as "young love, parental divorce, and early formative relationships ... It's a very beautiful, beautiful personal movie. It's very revealing about Steven's life and who he is as a filmmaker."
When Spielberg Snuck Onto the Universal Lot
One big story from the filmmaker's youth is that, while visiting cousins in Los Angeles as a high-schooler, Spielberg snuck onto a big movie studio lot. He took a Universal Studios tour, slipped into the bathroom at the midday break, and then waited until everyone was gone so he could explore the studio lot on his own. He met a film librarian who gave him a three-day pass, and then Spielberg got to walk around the Universal Studios lot, seeing how movies were made.
During that time, Spielberg met legendary western director John Ford, and got to have a short conversation with him. So when film director David Lynch was cast in a small role in THE FABELMANS the obvious conclusion to draw was that he was playing Ford. That is in fact the case — and it was Tony Kushner's husband, writer Mark Harris, who suggested the pitch-perfect casting.
There's a certain circular poetry to the story. Spielberg explored the Universal lot, and then a few years later he got his first directing contract — which saw him make an episode of "Columbo" and his first official feature, DUEL — with Universal. Eventually, he made JAWS for the same studio. And now Universal is releasing THE FABELMANS.
The Cast of The Fabelmans
To play the fictionalized young version of himself, named Sammy Faberman in the movie, Spielberg chose actor Gabriel LaBelle. You've probably seen Labelle in the 2018 movie THE PREDATOR; he is also in the new TV adaptation of "American Gigolo." Playing his parents are Michelle Williams and Paul Dano, and Seth Rogen appears as Sammy Fabelman's favorite uncle.
Additionally, Julia Butters appears as Sammy's sister Anne Fableman. Butters made a big mark in ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD, playing the girl who had a couple of scenes in a Western with Leonardo DiCaprio’s character. (And yes, that would be the same Anne who originally wrote a draft of this movie.) There are a lot more characters to announce, and probably a few more big cameos, too, but we'll have to wait for the movie's release to learn more.
THE FABELMANS is playing New York and LA now; it opens in more cities on November 23.
All images courtesy of Universal Pictures.