Steven Spielberg Does Jackie Kennedy Onassis Feature

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Spielberg Does Jackie Kennedy Onassis Feature

By our guest blogger, Matt Jussim

Steven Spielberg will produce and is helping to push around "Jackie," a film script about the late Jackie Kennedy Onassis.

According to the LA Times: Two iconic American names, Steven Spielberg and the late Jackie Kennedy Onassis, are linked together in a new project.

The story looks at the days immediately following the assassination of John F. Kennedy from the First Lady's point-of-view.

Journalist/author Noah Oppenheim penned the script and HBO is said to be the leading contender to buy the script and develop it as a film that could air on its network.

Spielberg has a long relationship with HBO--the premium cable channel is currently airing the WWII epic "The Pacific," which Spielberg executive-produced.

The life and death of JFK have been frequently visited on television with projects such as the 1983 NBC miniseries "Kennedy," starring Martin Sheen. And three years ago, Emilio Estevez took on the aftermath of the events surrounding the RFK assassination at the Ambassador Hotel. A film from Jackie's point of view, however, would be more rare.

In any case, I’m glad that someone like Speilberg would get behind a project like this. When it comes to historical films and accuracy, you know exactly what you are going to get from Speilberg. Think about “Saving Private Ryan,” “Schindler’s List” and the already mentioned “The Pacific.” Even though he will only be producing this, it’s still just a great thing that he’s involved.

The Kennedys possess such an American story, and if even half of the research and money that got put into “The Pacific” goes into this, it will be good.

There should be more news on this in the coming weeks.