"Munich"" director Steven Spielberg will take a year off from moviemaking, he told me last night at the Academy Governor?s Ball.

He deserves it: between November 2004 and October 2005 he produced and directed both ""War of the Worlds"" and ""Munich.""

Spielberg and his sensational knockout actress wife Kate Capshaw very happily attended the Governor?s Ball and the top A-list Vanity Fair party at Morton?s afterward, even though ""Munich"" ? my personal choice for Best Picture this year ? received nothing.

During my long talk with the most successful and honored film director in motion picture history, Spielberg told me a couple of things. For one, he expects that it will take two years before ""Munich"" makes its money back. It?s among his lowest grossing films, including ""Amistad,"" ""1941"" and ""Always.""

?But it doesn?t matter,? he said. ?I didn?t make it for the money.? He?s very happy with the finished product, also.

Right now, he does not have a project on the front burner, a big change for a man who does sometimes make two feature films in a year.

His main work in 2006 will be preparing his Abraham Lincoln film with award-winning author Doris Kearns Goodwin, and acting as a producer, not director, on several other smaller projects.

I asked him about ""Indiana Jones 4."" What?s up?

I said: ?George Lucas told me recently that there?s a script and he?s happy with the story.?

Spielberg: ?George Lucas isn?t the director. I am.?

You may recall that in this space on Dec. 6, 2005, I wrote that Lucas said he had a script by Jeff Nathanson, who wrote Spielberg?s ""Catch Me If You Can"" and ""The Terminal,"" as well as Bret Ratner?s ""Rush Hour"" movies. But even Nathanson seems to have been succeeded in the Indy sweepstakes.

?I have David Koepp on it now, and he?s my ?closer,'? Spielberg said, using a baseball reference to the pitcher who comes in during the 9th inning and finishes up a winning ball game (New Yorkers automatically think: Mariano Rivera, Goose Gossage, Sparky Lyle, Dave Righetti).

?He wrote 'Spider-Man' and 'War of the Worlds,'? Spielberg said, ?so he?ll get it done.?

Koepp (""Mission: Impossible,"" ""Carlito?s Way,"" ""Jurassic Park"") also wrote ?Zathura,? a current total bust that looks like it will lose millions for Sony, but hey, no one?s perfect.

Source: FoxNews"