Not far from where a replica of Jaws never stops snapping or the Jurassic Park ride always draws a long line at Universal‘s L.A. theme park, the filmmaker behind some of the other most iconic titles in Hollywood studio history — Steven Spielberg — found himself the main attraction Thursday night as a state-of-the-art theater on the adjacent studio lot was dedicated in his honor.
“It’s not just a place that is founded on his extraordinary legacy but it is a place of future hopes and dreams of filmmakers, of storytellers who are you going to take this company into the next 100 years, and the 100 after that,” said NBCUniversal Entertainment chairman Donna Langley, extolling Spielberg’s impact not just on the studio, with whom he’s enjoyed a rare 50 year-plus relationship, but also his impact on the world of movies and Hollywood.
The roster of notable executives, celebrities, old allies and creators on hand to celebrate Spielberg’s legacy included Langley’s bosses — Comcast CEO Brian Roberts and president Mike Cavanagh — as well as actors ranging from John Travolta, Vin Diesel and Seth Rogen to Colman Domingo, Dakota Fanning, Jeff Goldblum and Goonies stars Ke Huy Quan and Jeff Cohen, as well as writer-directors such as Jon M. Chu, Daniels and Kevin Williamson.
Spielberg has witnessed many a change of fortune for the studio during his multi-decade tenure but he described its current state as a rebirth. “And I don’t mean Jurassic World Rebirth opening July 2,” he quipped, plugging the new movie he produced. He also described the studio’s era of changing corporate owners as a time of “many fathers.” But now, he found himself back in a loving family.
“I mean the rebirth of the belief in the people that work as a family, as a community, as a team to make good thing happen,” he said. He ended his remakes by saying “I’m making a lot of movies and I have no plans…ever…to retire.”
Indeed, in a separate interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Spielberg said he still has “an appetite for a Western which I will someday hopefully do… It’s something that’s eluded me for all of these decades.”
Beginning with his groundbreaking 1971 debut, Duel, Spielberg has gone on to direct more than 30 feature films and produce hundreds more, many of them for Universal, which was the first major studio to take a chance on a filmmaker who was only in his mid-20s.
Thursday’s dedication gathering came just days after Jaws — ushering in the era of the summer blockbuster — celebrated its 50th anniversary. Spielberg’s next Universal films were 1979’s 1941, 1982’s E.T. the Extraterrestrial, 1989’s Always and and 1993’s Jurassic Park. While he started to make movies for other studios, including Indiana Jones at Paramount, his company Amblin has always remained on the Universal lot.
Jaws, E.T. and Jurassic Park each soared to become the highest-grossing films of their respective eras. And, in 1994, Spielberg brought home his first best picture Oscar for Universal’s Schindler’s List.
Because Spielberg has been busy shooting his top-secret film, he hasn’t been available to focus on the Jaws anniversary. Rather, he’s aiming for early fall when an exhibit is installed at the Academy Museum.
Thursday’s dedication had a big surprise for guests: he showed footage from the untitled event film, which is the filmmaker’s first adventure genre outing since 2018’s Ready Player One. Little is known about the feature other than it does have alien and sci-fi elements and is based on a story by Spielberg himself. The cast includes Emily Blunt and Josh O’Connor, among others, who were seen in footage trying to escape what appeared to be government agents in a black SUV.
After the theater dedication, Thursday’s guests were treated to an exclusive exhibit featuring never-before displayed props, costumes and behind-the-scenes photos, including clapper boards from Schindler’s List and The Fabelmans, the bicycles from E.T. and the alien’s animatronic arm, and plenty of merch from over the decades.
Guests such as Rogen, Chu and the Daniels took in the exhibit and stopped to talk with the legend in the middle of this shine. Chu showed Spielberg his E.T. socks that he wore for the occasion and thanked him for inspiring his love of movies. Spielberg said that even now, at his age, he still was amazed he gets to pursue his moviemaking dream.
The 250-seat Steven Spielberg Theater is nestled within The Commons, a new 84,000 sqare-foot building whose design pays homage to the very roots of cinema by resembling a spinning film reel. It is part of the Campus Project, a sprawling, eco-friendly redesign that Spielberg was closely involved with, just as he has been a partner in the design of Universal’s theme parks.