Steven Spielberg‘s long-delayed sci-fi adaptation is officially dead.

In late 2010, the legendary filmmaker signed on to helm the movie adaptation of Robopocalypse, which is based on Daniel H. Wilson’s book that eventually became a New York Times bestseller a year later. Despite committing to the project, DreamWorks confirmed that the project was put on hold indefinitely. Now, 16 years later, Spielberg can end the discussion over the movie’s progress, and it’s not without an unfortunate update.

In an interview with Empire Magazine (via GamesRadar), Spielberg realized that trying to make Robopocalypse “was gargantuan. It was a company-ender. It would have ended a whole studio that would have never made its money back.” He ultimately “decided it was going to be the most expensive movie I ever directed, and I wasn’t ready to take that on.”

With a potential budget as high as $200 million, he elaborated that “My company, DreamWorks, financed all these films, and I did not want to bring Robo’ into my own company, because it would have just been too expensive for us to produce. And then I took it out to other companies. I didn’t want to pay for it, but other companies were interested in paying for it, as long as I was the director.” It was eventually put on hold because “I didn’t want to do that to anybody because I couldn’t guarantee the audience.“

This update means that a Robopocalypse movie will not be happening after years of developmental hell. At one point, the film was initially scheduled to release in July 2013 before being pushed to April 2014. However, by early 2013, Spielberg’s spokesman Marvin Levy had a statement consistent with what the director is now saying, claiming it was “too important and the script is not ready, and it’s too expensive to produce.” Drew Goddard was involved with writing the screenplay.

The now-scrapped movie cast a few big stars, including Chris Hemsworth, Anne Hathaway, and Ben Whishaw. When Spielberg also faced more delays due to scheduling conflicts, there was a report that Michael Bay was taking on the project instead, but even that version seems to be up in the air.

During those 16 years, Spielberg directed several movies throughout various genres, including the musical West Side Story, the Civil War biopic Lincoln, and his own semi-autobiographical film The Fabelmans. The filmmaker also helmed a few sci-fi projects, including Ready Player One and the upcoming alien movie Disclosure Day, which is set to release on June 12, 2026.

Although Spielberg is the mastermind behind major blockbusters like Jaws and Jurassic Park, his concerns about the expensive budget were justified since some of his more recent projects are not exactly major moneymakers. For instance, The Fabelmans collected just $45.6 million against a $40 million budget, while West Side Story was a box office bomb with a $76 million total. However, it’s worth mentioning that the 2021 musical was released during the pandemic, which contributed to its commercial disappointment.

Robopocalypse is a cautionary tale about artificial intelligence named Archo, who is programmed with the identity of a boy and eventually takes control of the global network. This leads to an uprising where humans are considered the primary threat. The novel received positive reviews from outlets and authors like Stephen King and Clive Cussler. Four years later, a sequel was published, Robogenesis.

As of writing, it’s unclear what the future holds for a Robopocalypse adaptation, now that one of the most beloved directors acknowledged the development difficulties and hesitancy. The premise itself couldn’t be more relevant in today’s climate, as the rapid advancement of AI has become a major concern, whether through misinformation or its impact on job security. Although Robopocalypse is no more, Spielberg at least made his return to the sci-fi genre, especially with one that tackles aliens.