Steven Soderbergh's retirement from directing films may have come to an end. But the details on which project caught his eye are scarce and still in a bit of flux.
Last night, Variety reported that Soderbergh, who proclaimed he was retiring from filmmaking after directing 2013's Side Effects, was returning to film for something called Hillbilly Heist, starring Channing Tatum and Matt Damon.
This was Soderbergh's immediate reaction to the news:
That Variety story is wrong. What a shock.
– Bitchuation (@Bitchuation) February 4, 2016
Rest assured, all will be revealed when I give my exclusive, no-holds-barred interview with CATSTER magazine. You think I'm kidding.
– Bitchuation (@Bitchuation) February 4, 2016
To be clear: Facts are SO twentieth century…
– Bitchuation (@Bitchuation) February 4, 2016
“Yeah, good, let's run with this Soderbergh movie thing…” pic.twitter.com/lS9dKZ61VI
– Bitchuation (@Bitchuation) February 4, 2016
(Yes, that's a watermark on the monkey picture. You think Soderbergh has the kind of money to pay for the rights to use it? The man is retired and living on a fixed income!)
Shortly afterwards, Deadline reported that movie is called Logan Lucky, and it's starring Tatum and Michael Shannon, not Matt Damon. Variety updated its story to reflect that title and admit that the Damon report was wrong. Hollywood Reporter said Soderbergh and Tatum were involved, but couldn't confirm Shannon. It said the plot of movie “revolves around a heist during a NASCAR-syle race.”
Catster magazine has yet to respond.
During his “retirement,” Soderbergh directed HBO's Behind the Candelabra and two seasons of Cinemax's The Knick. He has also been the executive producer on a number of film and TV projects and a cinematographer and editor on several more.