CriterionCast

Steven Soderbergh Talks Haywire, Contagion, And Retirement

When you are as busy a filmmaker as Steven Soderbergh is, there is always a lot to talk about.

And now, with talks of the director looking to retire relatively soon, there seems to be even more to talk about.

First, in speaking with NFL Total Access host Rich Eisen on the sportscaster’s podcast (apparently he’s a cinematic auteur and a football guy as well), Soderbergh confirmed that his next film, a spy-thriller entitled Haywire, will indeed be hitting theaters on April 22, 2011.   This confirms rumors of that date being set in stone for the film.

He also confirmed that there have indeed been reshoots and added elements to the film, which makes the film a different cut than the one that apparently showed to test audiences last summer.   Interesting, he also, while not naming names, reveals that some potential male stars that were being looked at for the film denied to join because they were ‘not comfortable being pounded on by a woman.’

With regards to his follow up, the Kate Winslet, Matt Damon and Marion Cotillard-starring outbreak thriller Contagion, the director corrects Eisen who had called it an ‘action thriller,’ by saying that it’s ‘a horror movie actually. We kill kids. It’s brutal. It’s scary.’ Count me in.

Contagion hits on October 21, making 2011 quite the year for Mr. Soderbergh, and while he jokes that Matt Damon was drunk when sparking rumors of Soderbergh’s pending retirement, he does say that ‘I’m going to wind it down and I’m making the announcement now so people can get ready for it. I’m just putting the word out now so all these various organizations can line up these lifetime achievement things so I can kind of do it all at the same time.’ Joking aside, he says that he has ‘an exit strategy.’

So, while that’s a lot of information to take in, it’s not all that ground breaking.   The confirmation of Haywire‘s release date does make the year’s second quarter all the more interesting, and with him capping off the year with Contagion, I’m hoping this may be another huge year for one of the film world’s most interesting names.   Hopefully someone can talk him off the career ledge, because I don’t know if a Soderbergh-free film world is one that I want to live in.

Source: NFL.com

Joshua Brunsting

Josh is a critic, a member of the Online Film Critics Society, a wrestling nerd, a hip-hop head, a father, a cinephile and a man looking to make his stamp on the world, one word at a time.

1 comment