?The promise I made to George Lucas was more important.” For Steven Spielberg, loyalty to a friend was more important than a movie with Tom Cruise, which won 4 Oscars
Steven Spielberg regrets that he had to give up the acclaimed film starring Tom Cruise, which he worked on for almost six months. However, he had to keep his promise.
Steven Spielberg was supposed to be the director of 1988's Rain Man, which Barry Levinson eventually got behind the camera. Spielberg worked for nearly six months on the production with Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman, which later won four Oscars, before he had to drop out of the project due to a promise he made to a friend that he wanted to keep (via Far Out Magazine).
With Rain Man, I spent almost half a year developing it with Dustin and Tom Cruise and Ron Bass.
Spielberg was anxious to complete Rain Man and work with Cruise and Hoffman, but the constant postponements caused him to overlap projects and he had to choose between Rain Man and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, which was scheduled to come out in May 1989. The famous filmmaker regretfully gave up Rain Man to honor the promise he made to his friend George Lucas.
When I saw that I was going to go past January 12th and that I would have to step down from Indy 3, the promise I made to George [Lucas] was more important than making Rain Man. So, with great regret, because I really wanted to work with Dustin and Tom, I stepped down from the movie.
It must have been a difficult decision for Spielberg. He managed to spend almost half a year with Rain Man before giving it up. In addition, the production, which Levinson later took the helm of, went on to make a mark in the culture and won significant awards.
However, it can't be said that choosing Indiana Jones was a mistake, as The Last Crusade also made history and is a beloved film by audiences.