Spielberg Plans First Western as Director, Kaminski Says
Cinematographer Janusz Kaminski told The Hollywood Reporter he is attached to the untitled Western and cites Poland's Sudeten Mountains as a visual reference.
Steven Spielberg's next project is an untitled Western, which he hopes to shoot next year, according to a Hollywood Reporter profile of cinematographer Janusz Kaminski. The film would mark the first time Spielberg has directed a Western.
Kaminski, Spielberg's longtime collaborator, is attached to the project. In the profile, he discussed using the Sudeten Mountains region of Poland as a visual reference for the film's landscape.
The project has been taking shape in public comments. At SXSW in March 2026, Spielberg said he had something in development that would have horses and guns and avoid tropes and stereotypes. In 2025 he said he still had an appetite for a Western and that it had eluded him for decades.
Spielberg's prior connection to the genre has come as a producer. He produced Into the West, a six-episode Western miniseries that aired on TNT in 2005, and backed Western-adjacent films including Back to the Future Part III and Cowboys & Aliens.
He also directed The Fabelmans in 2022, a film that closes with a scene featuring John Ford, played by David Lynch.
Quick answers
What is Steven Spielberg's next movie?
According to a Hollywood Reporter profile of Janusz Kaminski, it is an untitled Western that Spielberg hopes to shoot next year.
Is this Spielberg's first Western as a director?
Yes. The report describes the untitled project as his first Western as director; he previously produced the Western miniseries Into the West.
Who is the cinematographer on Spielberg's Western?
Janusz Kaminski, Spielberg's longtime collaborator, is attached to the project.