Auteur Watch: Soderbergh and Scorsese
Production rumors and announcements are the bread and butter of many movie websites, but after awhile you start to realize that none of it really means anything until cameras are rolling. Still, there are a handful of filmmakers I like to keep tabs on and Martin Scorsese and Steven Soderbergh are two of them.
The Playlist (which has a source wedged up Soderbergh’s ass who has been feeding them this or that scrap of info about Knockout) reported yesterday afternoon that Soderbergh was bumping work on Liberace into 2011 so he could instead get going on Contagion written by Scott Z. Burns (The Informant!) with plans for Kate Winslet, Matt Damon, Marion Cotillard and Jude Law to star. Burns and Soderbergh hatched the idea for Contagion while working on The Informant! and Burns described it in 2009 as “Traffic meets Outbreak.”
According to The Playlist’s source, Contagion is getting preference over Liberace because there are a couple of other similar projects in the works and the filmmakers would like to beat everyone to the punch. The trades and other sources picked up on the story later on yesterday so it appears to be truthy… for now.
No word on the status of Soderbergh’s Cleopatra/Guided by Voices musical.
Meanwhile, the internets were oddly shocked back in January that Martin Scorsese was back on the adaptation of Brian Selznick’s kid-lit fav The Invention of Hugo Cabret, a film he’d been attached to in 2007 only to eventually drop out. That’s still true and it’s currently his next project officially. Meanwhile, speaking to the French press for Shutter Island (again via Playlist), Scorsese says his long gestating 17th century Jesuit priest in Japan story Silence is “hopefully” ready to go and then maybe The Irishman, his Robert De Niro mobster flick based on the book I Heard You Paint Houses adapted by Steve Zaillian.
Again, I’ll be a believer when cameras are rolling on any of these projects, but for now it’s interesting to note that rumors of Soderbergh’s pending retirement were apparently premature and that Scorsese’s Sinatra bio that had everyone all excited last spring is still a long way off.
Got all that straight? Good because it’ll probably change in a week.
Filed under: Pre-Production, Rumors
Tags: Cleo, Contagian, Jude Law, Kate Winslet, Liberace, Marion Cotillard, Martin Scorsese, Matt Damon, Robert De Niro, Scott Z. Burns, Silence, Steven Soderbergh, The Invention of Hugo Cabret
“The Playlist (which has a source wedged up Soderbergh’s ass who has been feeding them this or that scrap of info about Knockout)”
lol, jealous are we?
No, I’m not in the breaking production news business, but it’s worth noting that Playlist has been the go-to source recently for Soderbergh info.
I think I can speak for everyone here when I say we’re all grateful Craig isn’t wedged up Soderbergh’s ass, regardless of the potential insider info we might all enjoy as a result. I’m sure maintaining the blog would be difficult from such close quarters.
So true, Joel.
I hadn’t heard Scorsese was back on the Hugo Cabret project. That’s great news. I’m fond of the book and he seems like the ideal person to helm the project. Plus–of all the genres Scorsese’s done, I don’t believe he’s ever done anything in the children’s genre. Well, other than Goodfellas, but that’s a different kind of family film.
A friend purchased me a copy of Hugo Cabret recently and I look forward to reading it.
Can’t go wrong with that, Craig. It’s a fun read.
Friends who give books are the best.
A comment #1. Yes, that’s amusing. But yes, someone on the very inside like us and feeds us info (we’re grateful someone even cares or notices our work). If LIC had that source you can be sure he (and any other website) would use it too.
I credited the shit out of you when plenty of other websites didn’t. What more do you want?
Citation is not enough. Playlist wants some respect, dammit :-)