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There probably isn’t a cinephile who doesn’t love the works of Steven Spielberg (this writer included). From 1982’s E.T. to 2021’s West Side Story, Spielberg has given his fans and the global audience, a long line of blockbusters, one after the other. And now, here’s a chance to look into the life and journey of one of Hollywood's beloved filmmakers and what drove him toward the magical world of cinema. His latest project, The Fabelmans, is a semi-autobiographical take on his childhood and adolescence, told through the lens of a young aspiring filmmaker. A coming-of-age drama, The Fabelmans follows a young boy, Sammy Fabelman, growing up in post-WWII Arizona, where he explores and learns how films have the power to show the truth. Despite all odds and obstacles that stand in his way, Sammy immerses himself in his passion and makes filmmaking his life.

Written, directed, and produced by Spielberg himself, with Tony Kushner as co-writer and co-producer, and Kristie Macosko Krieger also producing, the movie is said to be dedicated to Spielberg’s parents, Leah Adler and Arnold Spielberg. With a plot full of drama and excitement, told through the eyes of an ambitious young man, coupled with a star-studded cast, The Fabelmans promises to be yet another landmark of a film, just like Spielberg’s other iconic works. So, to get you ready for an unforgettable cinematic experience ahead of the movie’s theatrical release this fall, we have made this comprehensive guide with the release date, plot, trailer, cast, and characters of The Fabelmans.

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Image via Universal Pictures

Related:Steven Spielberg, Tony Kushner & Rita Moreno on ‘West Side Story,’ Using Spanish Without Subtitles, and Stephen Sondheim’s Involvement

When Is The Fabelmans’ Release Date?

The Fabelmans premiered at the 47th Toronto International Film Festival on September 10, 2022. For its theatrical premiere, the movie is set to release on November 11, 2022, in the United States, making it a Thanksgiving release. This will be followed by its international release on November 23, 2022.

Watch The Fabelmans Trailer

Instead of talking about the movie trailer in detail and taking you through the entire clip, we will keep it simple for The Fabelmans. Because you see, when something seems so magical, you must see it for yourself to know what it holds. This movie’s trailer is a great example of that. If trailers are any indication of what kind of stories you will get to see, then the trailer of The Fabelmans is simply extraordinary.

In simple words, this is a movie that is sure to give you a complete cinematic experience served to you on an artistic platter, complete with a touching story, immersive narrative, and outstanding cast. Now, watch the trailer and prepare yourself for an incredible journey of a young boy who sees the world in a new way through his camera. Watch the trailer above for what's proving to be one of the most exciting movies of 2022, and you’ll know what it holds in store.

What Is the Background of The Fabelmans?

The Fabelmans has been a passion project for Spielberg since 1999 and was originally titled I’ll Be Home. Years later, he turned it into a reality, renaming it The Fabelmans and telling the tale through the lens of a young boy in the late 40s and 50s. The story, although Spielberg’s brainchild, is co-written for the screen by Pulitzer-winning playwright, Tony Kushner (Angels in America). Kushner also collaborated with Spielberg in his earlier projects Munich, Lincoln, and West Side Story, which he also co-scripted.

The preliminary work for The Fabelmans began in October 2020, in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown and principal photography started in July 2021 in Los Angeles, while the pandemic was still ongoing. The music for The Fabelmans is composed by John Williams, an old collaborator of Spielberg's, and this movie marks their 29th project together.

Related:7 Best Collaborations Between John Williams and Steven Spielberg, Ranked

Who Is in The Fabelmans’ Cast?

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Image via Universal

The story about a legend demands an exhaustive and legendary cast. And so it is for The Fabelmans. The creators have assembled an ensemble cast featuring Gabriel LaBelle, Michelle Williams, Paul Dano, Mateo Zoryon Francis-Deford, Seth Rogen, Judd Hirsch, and Jeannie Berlin in major roles.

Gabriel Bateman, Julia Butters, Robin Bartlett, Keeley Karsten, Oakes Fegley, Nicolas Cantu, Sophia Kopera, Chloe East, and Birdie Borria also join the cast, along with Kalama Epstein, Jan Hoag, Greg Grunberg, Brinly Marum, James Urbaniak, Chandler Lovelle, and Alina Brace, in various roles. Joining the team is director David Lynch, one of Spielberg’s contemporaries, in their first collaboration, playing the character of John Ford.

LaBeller debuts as the 16-year-old Sammy Fabelman, the eldest of the Fabelman kids, with Francis-Deford playing the role of a younger Sammy. Williams stars as Mitzi Fabelman, Sammy’s mother and a skilled pianist, while Dano appears as Burt, Sammy’s father, a computer engineer. Rogen plays Bennie Loewy, Burt’s best friend, co-worker, and the kids’ honorary uncle, Hirsch plays Uncle Boris, a distant uncle of Mitzi, and Berlin appears as Sammy’s paternal grandmother. Sammy’s younger sisters are played by Butters as Reggie, Karsten as Natalie, and Kopera as Lisa.

In other roles, there’s Birdie Borria as young Reggie, Bartlett as Sammy's maternal grandmother Tina Schildkraut, Fegley as Sammy's bully Chad Thomas, Bateman as Sammy’s Boy Scout friend who helps him with his film projects, Cantu as another Boy Scout member and Sammy’s friend, Rechner as Logan Hall, East as Sherwood, Escobar as Sal, Hadary as a family relative, Epstein as Barry, Hoag as Nona, Lovelle as Renee, Grunberg as Bernie Fein, Marum as Janet Benedict, Urbaniak as Principal, and Brace as young Natalie.

Related:Making 'The Fabelmans' Is Steven Spielberg's Way of Bringing His "Mom and Dad Back"

How Is the Critical Response to The Fabelmans?

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Image via Universal Pictures

Released at TIFF 2022, The Fabelmans has already earned critical acclaim and praise for Spielberg’s direction, screenplay, music, and cinematography, as well as for performances by the cast, including that of newcomer LaBelle.

Here’s an excerpt from a glorious review by our Collider staff, which describes The Fabelmans as:

“Spielberg has made the impossible real, brought entire worlds to life, and for many of us, was the filmmaker who first showed us the true beauty and power of film. Yet even with his most moving films, it’s only felt like we’re getting a glimpse of who Spielberg is—a tiny peek into the life of one of the most iconic directors ever. Yet with his latest film, The Fabelmans, Spielberg gets deeply personal and introspective in a way that we’ve never seen from him before, as he explores his childhood in one of the most moving, honest, and poignant films of Spielberg’s already impressive filmography.”

What Is The Fabelmans About?

The Fabelmans is essentially a coming-of-age story and could be one of the most incredible Steven Spielberg movies we have seen. Loosely inspired by Spielberg’s formative years, the story is a semi-fictionalized take on how he became a filmmaker. And his story comes to life through the eyes of a fictional character, Sammy Fabelman.

Sammy is a little boy growing up in Arizona, right after WWII ended. He lives with his mother, an artistic soul who always encourages him, his father, a computer engineer and a practical man, and three younger sisters. A visit to the theater with his family changes Sammy’s life forever. He gets fascinated with the art of cinema and falls in love with movie-making, and starts to pursue it in his own way. His pursuits are not always encouraged by his friends and family but he persists and continues to hone his skills.

The movie captures many events and moments of Sammy’s life across his childhood and teenage years that make him fall in love with the art of filmmaking and tells us why he finds it so magical. In his revelations of life, his passion helps him uniquely see the truth, and that makes all the difference to who Sammy would eventually become.