Since rocking most of our worlds with last years Star Trek franchise reboot, we’ve all been waiting to hear what J.J. Abrams will take on as his next project. We know he won’t be taking on Mission Impossible 4, but interestingly it looks like his next project may end up being a simultaneous tribute to and collaboration with another big name director who just can’t seem to choose his next project either: Steven Spielberg. Vulture reports that Abrams is just now finishing a screenplay described as “a tip of the hat to [Spielberg's] movies of the 70’s and early 80’s,” and Abrams plans to direct the movie himself for Paramount Pictures.

Like any other Abrams project, details on the plot are being kept under wraps, but like many of Spielberg’s most iconic films including Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and E.T., the project will “deal with everyday people whose personal relationships are tested when they are thrown up against extraordinarily fantastic, and possibly other-worldly, events.” Abrams has already been talking with Spielberg about the project and aside from being a source of inspiration for the flick, he’ll also be involved in some capacity (e.g. an executive producer or adviser). Their sources say: “J.J. wants to make sure Steven is properly paid homage to. This is really an interpretation of some of Spielberg’s earlier films, but done in a personal way.”

It sounds like Abrams is going to make the same movie that many of use who grew up with Spielberg’s work have always wanted to make. Much like the Abrams produced Cloverfield, the film is keeping its title under wraps for maximal marketing impact and will also be a fairly low budget venture for a studio movie. Just to be safe, take this news with a grain of salt since both Paramount and DreamWorks denied existence of the project (would we expect anything else?), but since Vulture has been notoriously reliable recently, I’d expect to hear something on this project sooner than later. We’ll let you know if we hear anything else! Thoughts?

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