Soderbergh Wants Clooney To Be THE MAN FROM UNCLE, Has An Exit Strategy

So is Steven Soderbergh retiring or not? He appeared on the Rich Eisen podcast this week to talk about the NFL and all sorts of stuff I just simply didn’t understand, but he also chatted briefly about his upcoming films (of which there are many).

First off, Soderbergh was calling in from Atlanta, where he was at the CDC for his film Contagion. He described the movie thusly: “It’s about how we should all stop touching other people and other things. “

When asked if Contagion was an action thriller, Soderbergh replied: “It’s a horror movie, actually. We kill kids.” He was being serious; I think the film is going to be pretty horrific and gross.

But what about what’s next? Soderbergh confirms that Liberace is still on his plate: “Liberace is what we’re supposed to do this summer, and I hope to do Man From UNCLE next year.” He also confirmed that he wants George Clooney for the Robert Vaughn role from the old NBC spy show.

As for the rumors of retirement, started by Matt Damon? Soderbergh played it all close to the vest, mostly being sarcastic and quippy. “He declined to mention we were both pretty drunk when we had that conversation. Next time I see Matt I’ll to explain on the record and off the record.”

In the end he did say that he has ‘an exit strategy,’ but what that means is unclear. It looks like we’ll have Soderbergh around for at least two more years, and I bet that he continues adding projects to his list, pushing retirement off into the distance.

Thanks to Dave Blueweiss for the link