Just because he’s likely to be included in today’s Oscar’s nominations doesn’t mean that everything’s going swimmingly in Steven Spielberg’s world right now. Spielberg had been working on a new movie entitled Robopocalypse, based on the 2011 novel of the same name by Daniel H. Wilson.

The movie was looking like it would be a new venture for DreamWorks, to be distributed by Fox and Disney. Anne Hathaway and Chris Hemsworth were likely contenders to star in the movie. However, Spielberg’s spokesman Martin Levy told The Hollywood Reporter that the idea had been shelved, for a number of reasons – notably the expense of producing the sci-fi action movie. The project, said Levy, was “too important and the script is not ready, and it's too expensive to produce. It's back to the drawing board to see what is possible.” With Robopocalypse out of the running, it’s unclear what Spielberg’s next cinematic move might be.

The famed director recently told 60 Minutes that action movies simply do not appeal to him anymore and that he can direct them “in his sleep.” With his weighty Abraham Lincoln biopic looking like a dead cert to sweep the board at the Oscars, will Spielberg continue his efforts in a more dramatic vein? With or without Oscar success, of course, offers will hardly be thin on the ground for Spielberg.  

Watch the trailer for Oscars-favourite Lincoln