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Sam Mendes to direct WWI movie for Steven Spielberg's Amblin

Sam Mendes (Credit: Eon)
Sam Mendes (Credit: Eon)

Sam Mendes’s first post-Bond project will be directing and co-writing World War I movie 1917 for Steven Spielberg’s Amblin, it’s been announced.

“Our company has been a home for Sam since his first film” said Spielberg.

“I am so happy to have him back here in his old room spinning new stories – especially this hugely daring and ambitious new movie.”

That first film was American Beauty, which Spielberg produced for DreamWorks Pictures.

It went on to win Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay and Best Cinematography at the 72nd Academy Awards.

Added Mendes: “I couldn’t be happier to be back working with Amblin and Steven Spielberg again, alongside Donna Langley and all at Universal.

“I’ve been working on this script for over a year, so it’s very exciting to start making the movie itself a reality.”

There’s no word yet on plot, but 1917 was a pivotal year in the Great War, with the US joining Britain, France and Russia to fight Germany, sending two million American soldiers to the battlefields of northern France.

It also saw Russia revolting from its tsarist autocracy, and the new Bolshevik regime opening peace negotiations with Germany.

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