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You could practically feel Steven Soderbergh’s The Man From UNCLE losing its mojo after his former partner George Clooney bowed out in August because the actor’s getting surgery and wasn’t up for the stunts. Sure enough, Soderbergh has dropped out of the project because he and Warner Bros couldn’t agree on budget. Soderbergh, who’s coming off the hit Contagion and whose action film Haywire is creating buzz, is expected to set a movie to fill that slot by Thanksgiving. He’s got a long relationship with the studio–which signed on to direct his male stripper pic Magic Mike–and this wasn’t particularly acrimonious or the kind of setback that would drive someone into retirement. He flirted with a number of actors, but it never quite came together.
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Oh bummerrrr.
I think it’s time to get Christopher Nolan on the phone.
OK I scoffed for a second but actually that idea intrigues me.
The only thing is he will likely go “original” after finishing up the Dark Knight Rises. I’m not sure he would go for another adaptation right away.
If they couldn’t reach a deal with Soderbergh about budgeting, you think it’s going to be any easier with Nolan?
because he’s Nolan!
I thought he was done directing…
Wasn’t that the word? Or will he retire after he’s directed his next 32 films?
Was Contagion a “hit?” I recall it doing ‘meh’ business in the US; was it gig internationally?
When I saw CONTAGION called a hit I, too, was curious.
I went over to Box Office Mojo and found that it had done $75M and $54M overseas. Not bad! Good even!
But is it a hit? I have no idea. What does the word “hit” even mean on this site?
CONTAGION had a reported budget of $60. Plus P&A add on that. How much money has it made? Its’ certainly made it money back and then some. But what is the actual profit? Does that even matter on Deadline Hollywood?
One movie that makes X number of dollars at the Box Office will be called a hit, and another movie that makes the SAME amount at the Box Office will be called a week later. With no reference or concern for costs or what the actual net is.
Leaving aside whether or not people should be paying more attention to net than gross (I think they should, but what the hell do I know) the judgement of success or failure on this site so all over the map I have given up trusting the words typed in these matters and — you know, go to Box Office Mojo to try to piece together whether something made money or not.
***
Personal Note: I really liked CONTAGION, and think that it did $75M given the subject matter really rocked.
Agreed Contagion was not a hit. It was the first time though when it was called Outbreak.
Contagion was a hit? I know it wasn’t a disaster or anything but a hit?
It more than made its budget, so it’s a hit financially, and it was a hit critically. I wouldn’t be surprised if it got a few Oscar noms, especially on the side of the crew.
Probably best, to be honest. When it was reported that they were reduced to looking at Channing Tatum for the lead, several other better choices having declined, it was clear they were scraping the bottom of the barrel.
Was the script horrible? Anyone know?
The Max Borenstein script was great. Heard Soderbergh wanted to rewrite it himself though (like he did with Moneyball) or have one of his handpicked people do it.
I thought the screenplay was by Scott Z. Burns…
I think Contagion’s done around $130 mill worldwide, already opened in most major territories.. so I don’t know about a hit.. on a budget of $60 mill..
Bummed this fell apart. It’s sad Soderbergh is retiring because he’s one of the few directors that can actually get a certain kind of material financed and made. (Man From Uncle, withstanding, of course.) What I don’t get is why he’s making 50 movies back-to-back and THEN retiring. Why not just go to one movie every 2 years for awhile AND THEN, after 5 of those, retire? Doesn’t have to be all or nothing…
Contagion is not exactly ‘a hit’ and everyone here knows it. The p&a was…substantial and everyone knows that too. I mean everyone with a TV knows it. So why tack on the dubious modifier?
Dear Steven:
Either retire or shut the hell up. I know Jules needs her Jewels and you’re a very talented and capable director but seriously, pick a side and stay on it.
Guess he wants to dedicate himself to the live action Deputy Dawg script with Al Pacino and Robert DeNiro attached.
Maybe now is a good time to retire, Steve
uh yeah, CONTAGION is a hit. it cost 58..look at the cast and the scope of the film…
it really is more of a drama than a thriller (as warners sold it as…) so keeping that in mind the only other drama that made more this year was THE HELP.
oh yeah..and it’s a really good movie.
Nope, not a hit, not where I come from. A movie is a hit when it make significantly more money than it cost to produce or promote, not because it makes more than other “dramas” or loses less than other Soderbergh films or because publicists say it’s one. Spin away, but sooner or later you have to do the math.
Calling Michel Hazanaviscus and Jean Dujardin.
First, OSS 117, now, U.N.C.L.E.
Spot on.
Steven may say he is going to retire, but no one is really taking that serious. About as seriously as Brad Pitt saying he’ll retire in 3 years. As long as there is a decent payday out there, they’ll still work. (Anthony Hopkins said the same thing years ago, and yet he shows up in THOR.)
Here’s an idea for UNCLE. Everyone seems to already see Clooney in the Napoleon Solo role, so why not just delay this for a year. Let Clooney recover from surgery, tweak the script to allow more stunt doubling for him, and just make the movie. Of all the crappy unwanted reboots we’ve suffered through the last few years, this remake was one that many people actually, you know, WANT to see.
Budget nothing, he wanted to rewrite the script, same stunt he pulled with MONEYBALL. Last year, Soderbergh f*cks Sony, this year he f*cks Warners, the two most talent-friendly studios in town, by far. Look up schmuck in the dictionary and it says “see him”.
My, David, just a little bitter.
in reply to David..he didn’t need to rewrite the script..he worked closely with scott z burns during the contagion production…and Scott wrote an amazing script that had been locked and approved by WB since September…but I’ll go ahead and look up schmuck in the dictionary…
and ps
if WB is so talent friendly…why did they lose 2 directors from 2 projects on the same day?
He didn’t need to rewrite the script, he wanted to, big difference. MONEYBALL had a locked and approved script when Soderbergh suddenly insisted on writing it, he’s pulled the same sh*t two years in a row. As for Warners and Sony being talent-friendly, ask around, they make the most favorable deals.
i now for a fact that Jeff Robinov had pressured Soderbergh to hire Zac Efron for Ilya.
NO JOKE.
Is this one of those budget disagreements like the one between Gore Verbinsky and Disney for the Lone Ranger movie? At the end all parties came together and the Lone Ranger will be made.
A remake of UNCLE has huge domestic and international potential. An American and a Russian spy together as a team. UNCLE is the television series that turned the James Bond formula on its head and succeeded. I hope all parties come back together and reconsider.
Here’s an idea: If they can’t lure Soderbergh back maybe they should go with Matthew Vaughn or if you really want to think out of the box why not Edgar Wright.
Oh God! Yet another re-make???!!! Where are the original ideas?
I still want to know why Robert Vaughan hasn’t made a guest appearance on NCIS with David McCallum??? Come on, they’re both pushing 80. Time for a little U.N.C.L.E. reunion!
It’s all gonna be okay. Soderbergh will find something strong to finish off on. And yes, Contagion was one of the stronger, more original films to have come out this year.
Like most Soderbergh films, it didn’t do $150 M domestic; but the film will have an incredible shelf life, play for years on end on tv/dvd, and will forever “work” as a drama/thriller for many years to come.
Like a fine wine, ALL of Soderbergh’s film are stronger with time. Even Sex, Lies, The Limey, or Full Frontal, still pop and have relevence thanks to the Soderbergh aesthetic and slick storytelling.