Why Steven Soderbergh Turned Down Directing A James Bond Movie

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Steven Soderbergh recently spoke with the podcast Happy Sad Confused to discuss his latest film Let Them All Talk. He spoke on a variety of subjects, including his take on film’s future and the importance of 2011’s Contagion in today’s climate. The conversation eventually turned to the director’s brief brush with the iconic spy franchise. Soderbergh explained to the podcast how his vision of 007 didn’t match up with MGM and Eon Production.
Around the time Soderbergh was being vetted for a Bond film, he had decided to take a brief hiatus from filmmaking due to the current Hollywood system. The filmmaker in him didn’t die as he directed and produced more projects during his “hiatus” than any other time in his career.

But Soderbergh’s career hasn’t suffered from not doing a Bond film, to say the least. He went on to direct films such as the Magic Mike series, Side Effects and Haywire. The celebrated director even delved into television as the driving force behind the acclaimed Emmy-winning HBO television film Behind the Candelabra with Michael Douglas and Matt Damon.

In recent years, Steven Soderbergh has returned to being behind the camera with critically acclaimed films such as Logan Lucky, Unsane, High Flying Bird and The Laundromat. He just wrapped filming No Sudden Moves with an all-star cast including Don Cheadle, Benicio Del Toro, Jon Hamm and Ray Liotta. It’s nice to see someone as prolific as Soderbergh not let one film stop him from doing his craft even after taking some time away from the film industry.



Movie Forums Squirrel Jumper
I like his movies in the past and Out of Sight is my favorite one of his. I don't think I have seen an actual bad movie from him accept for Erin Brokovich maybe. But I am surprised he was offered a Bond movie, since EON never wants to pick American directors for Bond movies in the past it seems.



Danny Boyle, Peter Jackson, John Woo, John Landis, Joe Dante, and Steven Spielberg were all either seriously considered or made offers to direct Bond films over the decades. Even Alfred Hitchcock was considered for Bond flicks. Spielberg was very, very interested in helming a 007 flick in the 1970s, at the time they were ramping up to make The Spy Who Loved Me, but he was finishing Jaws so the producers hadn't seen that yet and thought he was too inexperienced, and at that point they were against the prospect of hiring an American. By the time he had proven himself with Jaws and Close Encounters of the Third Kind he had moved on from the idea, especially as he and Lucas were talking about bringing their own globe-trotting adventure character to the screen by then, fedora and bullwhip instead of tuxedo and martini.
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"Film is a disease. When it infects your bloodstream it takes over as the number one hormone. It bosses the enzymes, directs the pineal gland, plays Iago to your psyche. As with heroin, the antidote to Film is more Film." - Frank Capra



Danny Boyle, Peter Jackson, John Woo, John Landis, Joe Dante, and Steven Spielberg were all either seriously considered or made offers to direct Bond films over the decades. Even Alfred Hitchcock was considered for Bond flicks. Spielberg was very, very interested in helming a 007 flick in the 1970s, at the time they were ramping up to make The Spy Who Loved Me, but he was finishing Jaws so the producers hadn't seen that yet and thought he was too inexperienced, and at that point they were against the prospect of hiring an American. By the time he had proven himself with Jaws and Close Encounters of the Third Kind he had moved on from the idea, especially as he and Lucas were talking about bringing their own globe-trotting adventure character to the screen by then, fedora and bullwhip instead of tuxedo and martini.
Except for that one time when they decided to start an Indiana Jones film almost exactly like a James Bond film could've started.

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Cobpyth's Movie Log ~ 2019