Universal Pictures is planning a Dec. 23 launch for Steven Spielberg's film about the 1972 Munich Olympics.

The untitled project, a co-production between Universal and DreamWorks with Universal handling domestic distribution, had been set to go before the cameras last year. Preproduction had begun in Europe and casting was under way when Spielberg decided to have "Angels in America" playwright Tony Kushner do a rewrite on the project, on which writers Eric Roth and Charles Randolph also had worked.

With the project postponed, Spielberg moved quickly to begin filming his adaptation of H.G. Wells' "War of the Worlds," a Paramount Pictures/DreamWorks co-production starring Tom Cruise, which Paramount will release June 29.

Spielberg now plans to begin filming the Munich project in the summer.

The specifics of the Munich project, which is believed to focus on the terrorist attack on Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympics and its aftermath, have been carefully guarded.

Spielberg is producing along with Kathleen Kennedy and Barry Mendel.

Speaking to analysts Tuesday at the Universal Orlando Resort, Universal Pictures chairman Stacey Snider said a Spielberg film was being planned for a release late this year, though she did not mention details.

Universal's developing year-end lineup is potentially formidable because at the moment it also includes such films as Peter Jackson's "King Kong" and the screen version of the Mel Brooks musical "The Producers."