DreamWorks’ financial woes threaten a pet project.

Which brings us back to Lincoln. If Paramount agrees to make the film, then Disney won't get its first Spielberg-directed movie for a while. (If Paramount passes, another studio—including Disney—could step up.) Disney's theme park in Orlando, Fla., features Lincoln in the Hall of Presidents, while the Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln attraction at the original Disneyland hasn't been on display since 2005 but is expected to return.

Lincoln is obviously an icon, but tying those attractions to a Spielberg movie—even if it isn't exactly War of the Worlds—has to be tempting. Last week, Disney blogger Jim Hill reported that a source in Disney's Imagineering operation said the company was already contemplating having Liam Neeson provide the voice of Lincoln in both exhibits while displaying props and costumes from the film near the attraction in Anaheim, Calif.

But those ideas are probably doomed. Universal might not be able to resist seizing the opportunity to say that its exclusive arrangement with Spielberg had been compromised. (I asked a top studio source what Universal would do in such a case. The response: "I have no idea.")

A source well-acquainted with all the players says one thing's certain: "All the Universal lawyers will be looking, desperately hoping" to find a way out of the obligation to Spielberg. And Spielberg—however passionate he may be about Lincoln—will be at least as passionate about preserving it. Maybe Disney can find someone who sounds like Neeson to voice Lincoln. That probably would be less costly for everyone.