Once in a while, an actor or director says they’re considering a willing exit from making movies, whether due to frustration, ennui or just other artistic distractions and desires. But while it’s often temporary or a distorted comment (such as from the still-active Anthony Hopkins, Jet Li or Viggo Mortensen), Steven Soderbergh seems pretty serious about leaving it behind.
While making Soderbergh’s virus thriller CONTAGION, star Matt Damon had this to say to the LA Times of his friend and frequent collaborator: “He’s retiring, he’s been talking about it for years and it’s getting closer. 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.‘ “
Damon himself seemed a little deflated about Soderbergh’s intentions: “For me, I’m going to spend the next 40 years trying to become a great director and I will never reach what he’s reached. And he’s walking away from it.”
The talented director, whose diverse filmography features commercial, experimental and “prestige” fare including the OCEAN’S trilogy, TRAFFIC, OUT OF SIGHT, THE LIMEY, ERIN BROCKOVICH and THE GIRLFRIEND EXPERIENCE, first mentioned the possibility of retirement a couple of years ago. But he certainly hasn’t slowed down since then, spending that time directing, producing and/or developing a number of projects. He still has, at the very least, LIBERACE (with Damon and Michael Douglas) and the recently reported MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. movie with George Clooney before he theoretically departs the business.
Soderbergh’s next release is the action/espionage movie HAYWIRE (formerly KNOCKOUT), featuring MMA star Gina Carano:
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