Soderbergh Knocks Out

It looked for a while like Steven Soderbergh’s next movie, after the Moneyball fiasco, might be his long-rumored CLEOPATRA musical with Catherine Zeta-Jones. According to Relativity Media, and dare I say “fortunately”, it won’t be so; no offense to fans of CHICAGO but I hated that film so much I actually had my rental reimbursed. One of very few times I did that.

The production shingle announced KNOCKED OUT as the next project undertaken by Soderbergh, and by the looks of it the man is out to vent a whole lot of steam.  The film is set to star martial-artist Gina Carano, enjoyably gracing our eyes right up there, as a “bad girl” given the chance to work her way toward the right side of the track. Sounds like “xXx 3: PMS” or a proper remake to NIKITA , but the aim is said to be an all-out martial-arts spy thriller in the vein of the Bourne films.

Although quite a beauty, Carano is still an unknown in Hollywood, so the director, who waved his own salary so the film could be made and will instead share “ownership stakes” which I applaud,  mentioned he’d surround her with “name” actors. Production is set for next February on a script by

Lem Dobbs who wrote KAFKA and THE LIMEY for Soderbergh.