Last we heard from Steven Soderbergh he was looking to make Liberace with Michael Douglas and Matt Damon, but now it appears he will be making yet another movie with Damon, but it won’t be about a pianist Liberace. Instead it’s an action-thriller called Contagion reports Deadline‘s Mike Fleming and he’s got quite the cast in tow.
Along with Damon, Soderbergh has lined up Kate Winslet, Marion Cotillard and Jude Law for the film that takes place in a worst case scenario of a deadly virus. The Playlist adds to the plot description saying the story takes place over four continents and is “terrifying.”
Fleming describes the feature, penned by Bourne Ultimatum co-writer Scott Z. Burns, as Traffic meets Bourne. Burns also penned The Informant!, which coincidentally also starred Damon and was directed by Soderbergh.
Recently Soderbergh has been quite vocal concerning the current film environment. I detailed his comments on Criterion’s Che Blu-ray when I wrote the editorial “Do Movies Matter Anymore? Steven Soderbergh Doesn’t See Any Evidence They Do,” which generated plenty of conversation in the comment section. Soderbergh has been down on Hollywood and recently suffered a set back when Moneyball fell apart on him despite having Brad Pitt attached to star.
Next in theaters for Soderbergh will be Knockout, a spy thriller with MMA fighter Gina Carano making her feature film debut. Along with Carano, the film features an impressive cast including Ewan McGregor, Dennis Quaid, Michael Douglas, Michael Fassbender, Channing Tatum, Michael Angarano, Antonio Banderas and Bill Paxton. Lionsgate is set to distribute.
