Steven Spielberg to Direct ‘War Horse’ Film

Michael Morpurgo’s children’s book, War Horse, has already been adapted on stage and on radio. Now, Steven Spielberg is ready to lead the helm for the film version.

Spielberg and Dreamworks co-chair-CEO, Stacey Snider acquired the rights to the book last fall. The film’s release date is set for August 2011.

War Horse was first published in 1982 by UK publishers, Kaye & Ward. It was a runner-up for the prestigious Whitbread Award that same year. The stage production was originally performed in London’s West End. It was very-well received in the UK and is due to come to New York’s Lincoln Center in March 2011.

Variety reports: “Set against the sweeping backdrop of the Great War, storyline charts the extraordinary friendship between a boy and a horse who are separated but whose fates continue to intertwine over the course of WWI. The Great War was a natural topic for Spielberg to take on. He’s already explored World War II in a number of projects, including directing Saving Private Ryan. He exec produced HBO’s Band of Brothers, and more recently, the pay cabler’s The Pacific.”