War Horse film rights bought by Stephen Spielberg
Hit equestrian West End play War Horse is to transfer to the big screen, after Steven Spielberg’s DreamWorks Studios acquired the film rights to the original novel.
War Horse, written by former children’s laureate Michael Morpurgo, was a smash hit in the theatre, with fans including the then riding master of the Household Cavalry, Richard Waygood.
Major Waygood said: “Fifteen minutes into this play about a cavalry horse in the First World War, I started to believe I was watching real horses. It had me completely gripped.”
Mr Spielberg will produce the film and the screenplay will be written by Billy Elliot’s Lee Hall.
“From the moment I read Michael Morpurgo’s novel I knew this was a film I wanted DreamWorks to make,” Mr Spielberg told the Hollywood Reporter. “Its heart and its message provide a story that can be felt in every country.”
War Horse is currently running at the New London Theatre.
Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now
Never miss out on the latest happenings in the equestrian world
A self-confessed newshound, farmer’s daughter and journalist of many years' experience, Charlotte worked on regional papers before joining H&H in 2007. A regular rider, she visited Ireland in 2010 to investigate the fate of Irish horses through the recession, to much acclaim, and reported from the FEI General Assembly in Rio de Janeiro in 2011. She left Horse & Hound in March 2013.