Steven Spielberg Throws Apple Watch at ‘Sugarland Express’ Tribeca

Apple, or at least its technology, was worried about the health and well-being of Hollywood’s greatest director.

In the middle of Steven Spielberg‘s Tribeca Festival talk on Saturday, where the filmmaker was celebrating the 50th anniversary of his debut feature, “The Sugarland Express,” he was interrupted by his Apple watch with a message that read “It looks like you’ve taken a hard fall.” Spielberg jokingly said “I’m not going to press the SOS [button]” before throwing it on the ground. “I’ll pick it up later,” he said, only to retrieve it a few minutes later when it started issuing some sort of distress signal.

Before the Q&A began, a taped message from “The Sugarland Express” star Goldie Hawn appeared on the screen, thanking Spielberg and reminiscing about the pivotal moment in her career—and his. The film was released in 1974, just one year before “Jaws,” and even though it received good reviews, Universal pulled it from theaters after two weeks because of lackluster box office results. “You’re the first audience to ever see ‘Sugarland Express’ in 50 years,” Spielberg said to a packed audience at the BMCC in Lower West Side Manhattan.

The three-time Academy Award-winning filmmaker told moderator and Variety Executive Editor Brent Lang that he was inspired to make the movie after reading an article with the headline “Modern Day Bonnie and Clyde” in a local Los Angeles Valley newspaper, The…