At age 70, Steven Spielberg says he will direct films until he dies

A great white shark swims menacingly through the water, an alien extends his gnarled, glowing finger and soldiers in World War II endure unimaginable slaughter. Steven Spielberg has created unforgettable moments in film. He turns 70 on Sunday.
Director Steven Spielberg and Harrison Ford are collaborating on the fifth "Indiana Jones" movie, and when it's released in 2019, both will be septuagenarians.
Spielberg reaches the milestone Sunday, joining Ford in a group in which many people are retired. But neither of the greying Hollywood titans is the least bit tired of film-making.
Spielberg, a two-time winner of the Best Director Oscar, said in May at the Cannes Film Festival in France that he plans to make movies until the day he dies.
He presented his 29th major motion picture, the fantasy film "The BFG," about an unusual friendship between a little girl and a friendly giant, during Cannes.
"I don't know that there's a time when he's been more prolific," said Jeffrey Katzenberg, with whom Spielberg launched the studio DreamWorks in 1994.
Katzenberg called Spielberg "the master storyteller of our time" in an interview in June with the Hollywood Reporter. "If you look at the profitability and excellence of his work, he has no peer.
"You can take James Cameron, Chris Nolan or Martin Scorsese - all brilliant and in many ways his peers, but look at quality and consistency, and no one compares,"? Katzenberg said.
Aside from the "Indiana Jones" movie, Spielberg has several others in the works. Due out at the end of next year is "The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara," a historical drama based on a true story of the far-reaching implications of the 1858 abduction of an Italian Jewish boy.
In 2018, the science-fiction thriller "Ready Player One," about a virtual online world in 2044, is expected to be completed.
The movies Spielberg has directed, from his breakthrough "Jaws" in 1975 to "The BFG," have made him one of the most successful directors in history.
Among his biggest films are the heart-warming "E.T. the Extraterrestrial" (1982), the gripping World War II dramas "Schindler's List" (1993) and "Saving Private Ryan" (1998), "Lincoln" (2012) and "Bridge of Spies" (2015).
And the father of seven hasn't been slowed down by his family, even though they are his top priority, as he told dpa five years ago at the world premiere of "The Adventures of Tintin" in Paris.
Spielberg is married to actress Kate Capshaw, 63, his second wife, who starred with Ford in "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom."
His love of the movies began early in life. He made his first amateur film at age 12 on 8-millimetre film.
Born in the US state of Ohio to a Jewish family, Spielberg didn't let two failures at California film schools deter his Hollywood ambitions.
His first job in Hollywood was as a director's assistant on a television series. He directed his first movie, "The Sugarland Express" starring Goldie Hawn, in 1974. At age 28, he gave Hollywood a jolt with "Jaws," which ushered in the era of blockbuster films.
He followed in 1977 with "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" and continued his run of success with "Raiders of the Lost Ark" in 1981.
Billions of dollars have flowed into box office cash registers thanks to Spielberg, who was not taken seriously until he made the drama "The Color Purple," about the fate of a black woman in the US South, in 1985. The film was nominated for 11 Oscars.
But Spielberg would have to wait several years for one of the coveted statues. He finally scored when "Schindler's List" won seven Academy Awards, including the Best Director and Best Picture awards. The movie also won three Golden Globes.
He asked himself at the time whether the film might be his last; the pain of telling the story affected him that deeply, he told the Hollywood Reporter.
Four years passed before another Spielberg-directed movie appeared in cinemas - "The Lost World: Jurassic Park."
Spielberg received his second Best Director Oscar in 1999 for "Saving Private Ryan." His films have often been based on historical and political material, such as the Olympic massacre at the 1972 summer games in Munich, the Amistad slave revolt and the exchange of Cold War spies.
He told the Hollywood Reporter in June that he is "super excited" about "Indiana Jones 5." He declined to provide details about the plot except to say that he wouldn't kill off Harrison Ford.