History opens up new worlds to film-makers all the time.

There is a fine line between censorship and good taste and moral responsibility.

'E.T.' began with me trying to write a story about my parents' divorce.

There were so many odd, strange things about Abraham Lincoln that I think nobody knew how to pigeonhole him.

Whether in success or in failure, I'm proud of every single movie I've ever directed.

My dad took me to my first movie. It was 'The Greatest Show on Earth' in 1952, a movie of such scale it was actually a traumatic experience.

I don't go through a torturous intellectual process to decide what to direct. I know what I want to direct the second I read something or hear a story. I just know when it grabs me in a certain way I want to direct it. And then I spend the next four to six months trying to talk myself out of it, because directing is really hard! But it's true, I know essentially when and what I want to do next... it's an undeniable feeling I get and it's not the same feeling I get when I wind up producing something.