Contagion, Liberace, and U.N.C.L.E. with Clooney– apparently that’s all writer/director Steven Soderbergh has left for us.
He’s said it before, but the impending early retirement of Steven Soderbergh from filmmaking is drawing closer and if Matt Damon’s comments are any indication, he’s shown no signs of chaining his plans. Speaking with 24 Frames Matt Damon, one of Soderbergh’s most frequent collaborators, said that there is little left in cinema for the director, and he wants to move on.
“He wants to paint and he says he’s still young enough to have another career. He’s kind of exhausted with everything that interested him in terms of form. He’s not interested in telling stories. Cinema interested him in terms of form and that’s it. He says, ‘If I see another over-the-shoulder shot, I’m going to blow my brains out.’ “
He then goes on to list the aforementioned projects as the last he’s really looking at doing. Contagion is underway in Chicago and is Soerbergh’s “multi-story film about a viral epidemic,” the expanding cast of which we covered earlier in the year. Liberace is the biopic he’s planned on doing with Michael Douglas for many years- the outlook of the project has improved along with Michael Douglas’ health. Finally the spy TV show adaptation The Man from U.N.C.L.E. would be the director’s final film, and his final collaboration with George Clooney.
Matt Damon is pretty forthcoming about his frustration with director leaving the movie business, and cites Clint Eastwood as an example of directors working well into their dinosaur years.
“After I worked with Clint, I went back and said, ‘Look, Clint is having a blast and he’s going to be 80 years old.’ And Steven says back, ‘Yeah, but he’s a storyteller and I’m not.’”
Sounds like Soderbergh, and sounds like a guy who might retire when he says he will.
Soderbergh isn’t the only name director who is dedicated to a deadline for fucking out of the movie business. A lot of these guys have a way of “one more”-ing their way to a much longer career than expected though. Even if Soderbergh legitimately quits, the right idea could always bring him back, be it 5, 10, or 20 years down the line (I feel that applies to Kevin Smith too). And at the end of the day, you never know when a bill is going to sneak up on you.
That said, if you enjoy Soderbergh’s work and enjoy following his projects and anticipating his releases, I’d suggest you savor the next couple of years…
13 comments
It's hard not to respect his decision, but part of me would love it if he turned out to have not even a single atom of talent for painting.
The "right idea" won't bring him back. The right pay check will. Ten years from now when his bank balance is looking a little thin, his passion for cinema will suddenly return.
If the guy has the right deals in place, his bank account won't be effected. If that's his decision, bummer, but, you gotta' respect a dude who's made his mind up about something and is executing that plan.
That kind of explains his last couple films as I felt that while nice to look at, they lacked a story. I'm not sure if I should be excited for these upcoming films or worried. If the guy doesn't want to do this anymore, are these films going to be anything different than what we've been getting? Don't get me wrong, The Informant was alright but The Girlfriend Experience and Che, while visually interesting, both sucked as movies that should also be telling a story. It's like Soderbergh is trying to be like Terrence Malick or something but failing miserably. I really hope these films coming out are good but I've been burned to much by Soderbergh lately to have that much faith. What happened to the Limey, Traffic, Oceans 11 Soderbergh? I miss that guy.
U.N.C.L.E sounds like a horrible last film. The Oceans movies, while entertaining the first time, are the epiphany of everything the director seems to be against. That being said, The Informant! was great….
This is really disappointing. I like most of his work, and Che was pretty to look at, at least. The first part felt like more of a movie than the meandering second.
Yeah, that will last. About a year. Annoying spoiled Hollywood cunts with their fads…
Selfishly, I want him to disappear for 15-20 years and then unexpectedly show up at SXSW or Fantastic Fest with a completed "Schizopolis 2" and blow everyone's minds.
Selflessly, I hope he achieves some peace from painting and doesn't blow his brains out.
This sucks! Soderbergh has been one of the most interesting, ambitious directors out there for 20 years now. Sure he's always been a little inconsistent, but that comes with ambition. He's made an incredible number of very diverse films in a relatively short time, and the vast majority of them have good to great. I thought Soderbergh was just too energetic and restless to ever stop. If his last picture turns out to be U.N.C.L.E., it'll be really hard not to read his early retirement as a depressing commentary on the bean-counting anti-artistry of the studio system.
Uh, nincompoops, CHE is a great movie. No story? It's an epic rise and fall.
What about the musical version of Cleopatra?
he should go out on a bang.. do repo man 2 wallys hawaiian whatever…
clooney + uncle= one last big paycheck
btw soderberghs wife is hot
"…chaining his plans". Ugh
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