Prior to shooting 2013's SIDE EFFECTS, Steven Soderbergh said it would be his final feature film directorial effort, and although he's stayed busy since by helming the Cinemax's The Knick, serving as the cinematographer on MAGIC MIKE XXL, and executive producing the upcoming Starz drama series The Girlfriend Experience, he might be planning on coming out of his self-imposed retirement for a new movie.
However, there seems to be some confusion about the project. Variety originally reported that Soderbergh is attached to direct Channing Tatum and Matt Damon in HILLBILLY HEIST, but shortly after the article was published, the filmmaker tweeted that their story is "wrong." Deadline, meanwhile, has heard the film is actually called LOGAN LUCKY, and that Michael Shannon, not Damon, will star opposite Tatum.
As for the plot of HILLBILLY HEIST/LOGAN LUCKY, THR is claiming that the story "revolves around a heist during a NASCAR-syle race," and that it is being described as "being in the vein of Ocean's 11, but with hillbillies." It also sounds like this is a pretty hot project. Most of the major studios, including Warner Bros., Fox and Sony, are looking to acquire the film, and Variety believes a deal will be made by the end of the week.
Even if Soderbergh doesn't end up directing, it does seem like he will still be involved with the movie to some capacity, probably as a producer. But it's going to take a bit for this to get sorted out, so we'll have to wait and see if Soderbergh has indeed decided to return to feature filmmaking.
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