If there is anything more iconic than Steven Spielberg in the film industry, it has to be his friendship with yet another renowned filmmaker, George Lucas. The two have time and again proven why they are such good friends and that they will always have each other’s back. However, Steven Spielberg began doubting his allegiance to George Lucas when he saw the reception of Tom Cruise’s Rain Man.
Steven Spielberg was one of the few names who were in the running to direct the road dramedy starring Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman. However, he decided to walk away from the opportunity to direct George Lucas’ Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade instead, something which he sort of regrets looking back on the past.
Steven Spielberg Regrets Saying No to ‘Rain Man’
Steven Spielberg was attached to Rain Man for five months before he packed his things up and left to do George Lucas’ Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. After the film’s release, Rain Man received much praise for everything from the casting to the story to Barry Levinson’s direction.
As if the positive feedback wasn’t enough, the film went on to receive eight nominations at the 61st Academy Awards. It won under four categories including Best Picture, Best Actor for Dustin Hoffman, and Best Director. Needless to say, Spielberg felt a pang of regret in his chest looking back at his decision to walk out.
In a resurfaced 36-minute-long TV interview (via Grantland), Spielberg was seen voicing his regrets. When BBC’s Barry Norman asked the filmmaker if giving up on Rain Man hurt, Spielberg replied,
Sure it did. Sure it did. When the film began winning Best Picture and Best Writer, I kept thinking, God, maybe I should have forgotten my entire friendship with George Lucas and said, ‘George, go hire somebody else to do Indy 3’… Of course I thought about that!
On the other hand, Indiana Jones 3 also received positive reviews from fans and critics. It also received 3 nominations at the 62nd Academy Awards but none of them were for Best Picture, Best Director, or Best Screenplay. The film however won an Oscar for Best Sound Editing. Unfortunately, Spielberg did not win a single award for his direction, nor was he nominated for any.
Steven Spielberg Believes Barry Levinson Was the Right Man for the Job
While Spielberg sure has his regrets about not doing Rain Man, he also believes that Levinson did incredible work on the film. In fact, he even went as far as to say that if he was attached to the film as a director and did exactly what Levinson did frame by frame, he still wouldn’t have been nominated for Best Director.
He went on to say that perhaps with his involvement, the dramedy would have won as many awards as it did.
Spielberg stated,
Practically speaking, if my name had been on Rain Man, shot for shot what Barry had done … I probably in my hearts of hearts don’t think I would even have been nominated as director on that film, and I’m not sure the film would have won that many awards.
Rain Man follows the story of two brothers – Tom Cruise’s Charlie Babbit and Hoffman’s Raymond Babbit. After Charlie discovers that his father has died and left his multimillion-dollar estate to Raymond, an autistic savant, the two embark on a cross-country journey where Charlie completely transforms as a person.
Stream Rain Man on Prime Video and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade on Disney+.
