Steven Spielberg recently explained why he never directed one of his planned sci-fi movies starring Chris Hemsworth.
What did Steven Spielberg say about Robopocalypse?
In the latest issue of Empire Magazine, Spielberg revisited one of his failed feature film adaptations: Robopocalypse. Daniel H. Wilson’s 2011 sci-fi novel depicts a robot rebellion, which leads to a war between AI and humanity.
In 2010, Spielberg signed on to direct Robopocalypse from a screenplay by Drew Goddard. Spielberg planned to film in 2012 for a 2013 release date. Robopocalypse’s cast included Hemsworth, Anne Hathaway, and Ben Whishaw.
In 2012, Robopocalypse’s release date was delayed to 2014. In 2013, Spielberg put the movie on hold indefinitely and eventually walked away from directing the project. Spielberg told Empire that Robopocalypse’s budget factored into his decision to delay the movie.
“It was gargantuan. It was a company-ender. It would have ended a whole studio that would have never made its money back,” Spielberg said. “So, I literally decided it was going to be the most expensive movie I ever directed, and I wasn’t ready to take that on.”
Spielberg tried to bring other studios in to finance Robopocalypse, which would need a budget over $200 million. Spielberg knew that his company, DreamWorks, could not make this movie alone.
“My company, DreamWorks, financed all these films, and I did not want to bring Robo’ into my own company because it would have just been too expensive for us to produce,” said Spielberg. “And then I took it out to other companies. I didn’t want to pay for it, but other companies were interested in paying for it, as long as I was the director.”
Spielberg added, “I didn’t want to do that to anybody because I couldn’t guarantee the audience.”
In 2018, Spielberg picked Michael Bay to direct Robopocalypse. There have been no development updates since Bay’s inclusion.
Spielberg’s next sci-fi movie, Disclosure Day, opens in theaters on June 12, 2026.
Originally reported by Dan Girolamo for SuperHeroHype.
