Steven Spielberg adapting Philip K. Dick feels like such a no brainer that it’s shocking it took as long as it did. But, of course, "Minority Report" was worth the wait.
Originally developed in the early 1990s as a sequel to "Total Recall" (yes, seriously), "Minority Report" went through a number of seismic shifts before Spielberg and leading man Tom Cruise would sign onto the project. The resulting film is Spielberg at his most breathlessly entertaining and Cruise at his most layered and compelling (his willingness to let his character be damaged and unlikable is amazing).
In recent years, the ending of the film has developed into a "Blade Runner" style debate — did everything work out just the way he’d planned it or is Cruise’s character still incarcerated and it is all some kind of deep dream? (And what of the alternate ending, which stated that after the pre-crime program was decommissioned, the number of murders skyrocketed?) It’s telling that a summer blockbuster like "Minority Report" is still inspiring heated discussion.
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