Steven Soderbergh Not Quite Done Yet; Working On 12 Hour Adaptation Of The Sot-Weed Factor

Because when I think retirement, I think a 12 hour miniseries.

That’s exactly what director Steven Soderbergh has on his plate as, according to EW the director is developing an adaptation of the beloved John Barth novel, The Sot-Weed Factor.

Apparently the director has had it “on my shelf for a while,” revealing that he had early plans to do it as a feature film, but that he has instead adapted it as “12 one-hour episodes” for a potential series. The story follows a poet who takes over a tobacco farm in the late 1600s, the director says that the budget is what is keeping this from happening. Wanting to keep the budget down despite the period is more difficult than the director had expected, so hence the apparent shelf life for the project.

Where does he go from here? This project has definitely gotten quite a bit of buzz online since it was yet again talked about, so suitors should be expected. Personally? This sounds like something Netflix would kill to get behind. A limited run with a pure-blood auteur should catch their eye, so don’t expect them to be far from the conversation. Or at least this writer hopes. Soderbergh also has a relationship with HBO as his “final” film is the HBO film Behind The Candelabra, so who knows at this point?

Source EW