Contagion

[modage]

Will Studios Catch Soderbergh's Virus Thriller?
Source: Deadline Hollywood

Hollywood studios finished 2009 with their wallets shut tight for spec scripts and new development. But maybe they'll open for Steven Soderbergh's latest: Contagion, an action-thriller that takes place in a worst case scenario of a deadly virus. He's got Kate Winslet, Matt Damon, Marion Cotillard, and Jude Law ready to star in it this fall, with Participant Productions aboard as co-financier. Greg Jacobs will produce with Double Feature Films' Michael Shamberg and Stacey Sher.

Of course, this is familiar movie territory, from The Andromeda Strain to Outbreak, which beat out Ridley Scott's The Hot Zone on the same topic. But both were hot properties, and given the subject matter, Soderbergh's involvement, and that cast, Contagion ought to spark a bidding battle. Several studio execs have read it, and the project will be be shopped shortly by the producers and Soderbergh's rep Michael Sugar. The script is supposerd to be Traffic meets Bourne.and was written by Scott Z. Burns, best known for co-writing The Bourne Ultimatum, and who most recently collaborated with Soderbergh on The Informant!, as did Participant, Damon and Jacobs.

After Che, the maverick writer-director has moved in a more commercial direction. He began production last week on Knockout, the Relativity Media-financed espionage thriller he built around mixed martial arts fighter Gina Carano, surrounding the newcomer with Channing Tatum, Ewan McGregor, Michael Douglas, and Michael Fassbender.

[matt35mm]

How is it that every couple of months, Soderbergh has a new project that seems to pop up out of the blue, all packaged and ready to go?  It hardly seems human.

[MacGuffin]

Jude Law Reveals He'll Play A Blogger In Steven Soderbergh's 'Contagion'
Source: MTV

The ensemble cast of Steven Soderbergh's sprawling "Contagion," a film that weaves together various perspectives on a deadly viral outbreak, seems to have fallen into place: Matt Damon, Kate Winslet, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jude Law and Marion Cotillard, with Laurence Fishburne possibly joining up as well. Yet little is publicly known about who they'll all play.

While promoting his sci-fi thriller "Repo Men" on Tuesday, Law revealed to MTV News exactly what his role in the story will be. "I play a kind of unbridled blogger who's a sort of scaremonger," he said.

In mid-February, Warner Bros. beat out a bunch of other studios to pick up rights to the film. Law envisions a start to shooting at some point in 2010. "I think we're going to do that end of the year," he said. "It's an enormous ensemble piece so it's someone's logistical nightmare. How they get us all, I don't know. It's under the same studio as '[Sherlock] Holmes,' so it'll probably fit in and around that."

Law admitted he's not sure how much else he could say about the project, but he did mention some of the other viewpoints "Contagion" will follow. "Basically, yes, it's about a deadly virus unleashed and you see it from many different points of view, whether it be the public, medical care, politicians," he said.

And then there's Jude Law, blogger-at-large, in a role sounding a bit similar to Woody Harrelson's paranoid Internet maven in "2012," though presumably not in quite such a ham-fisted manner.

"They're saving it till the end of the year because I got a lot of method, a lot of deep character work I got to do to get there," Law said, laughing.

[MacGuffin]

Soderbergh's Contagion Contaminates 2011 in 3D!
Source: ComingSoon

Warner Bros. Pictures has announced a slew of movies they will be readying for release in 2011, setting tentative release dates between April and December of next year.

The biggest announcement among them is that Steven Soderbergh will be releasing his virus thriller Contagion, starring Matt Damon, Kate Winslet, Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow and Marion Cotillard in 3D on October 21, 2011. Having spoken with Soderbergh about 3D this time last year, he told ComingSoon.net how he had been suitably impressed when he was given an early sneak peek at James Cameron's Avatar, so it isn't too big a surprise that he has decided to give it a go with his next big movie.

[Pubrick]

ok so it looks like every one is having a go at the 3D thing, this isn't necessarily a bad thing.

so far every major director who has jumped on the wagon has made perfect sense. cameron, jackson and spielberg need to keep their money bags filled. zemeckis is TERRIFIED of real humans (to him it's PEOPLE who ellicit the unncanny valley response). scorsese has been trying to redeem himself in the only way that will actually bring him any satisfaction, making money, for 10 years now. soderbergh has always made one for them and one for him. who am i missing?

anyway it's no cause for alarm just yet cos even tho a lot of great directors might have a go it will probly just be a once off for a lot of these.

[Kellen]

trailer.

[for petes sake]

This is an odd criticism but the lighting looks horrible.  Anyone else notice the sickly yellows and overall video-y feel?  Not sure I'm a fan of Soderbergh's RED obsession if this (and parts of The Informant) are the results.

[polkablues]

All right, I'm interested.  Previously, I was intrigued by Haywire but didn't give a shit about this one, and now I'm ready to lay down ten bucks for it.  So good trailering, trailer.

I have to say the look of it doesn't bother me.  It's clearly a choice, not a deficiency in the camera or in Soderbergh's use of it.  You even used the word "sickly" to describe the color palette; for a movie about disease, I'm going to go ahead and call that one intentional.

[for petes sake]

I agree that it's a choice.  I think it's a look that Soderbergh likes for whatever reason now that he's shooting everything RED.  It fits more for this film (the pun was intended) but he also used this style in The Informant, Bubble, and parts of GF Experience.  I don't think the same look is nearly as justifiable in those movies.  I haven't seen Che, but I'd be curious if it looks similar too.  

I guess it's a reaction to how gorgeous Solaris and Oceans 11 are, and being impressed with the fact that Soderbergh DPed them despite only DPing two movies before that.  Of course Solaris and Oceans are supposed to look slick, but Soderbergh's last few movies have varied widely in tone and subject matter and yet they all look kind of the same.
 

[polkablues]

I'll agree that Bubble and Informant looked pretty awful.  I get the feeling with Soderbergh that he just likes experimenting so much that he thinks, "Okay, I've figured out how to shoot movies that look good, why don't I try making them shitty-looking for a bit?"  Most of his artistic decisions seem designed simply to stave off his own boredom.

[picolas]

yes, very nice trailer. i think i saw mod's next avatar in there.

[JG]

LOOKS COOL.

[socketlevel]

Great trailer. My only worry is that this will spark some hypochondria in myself.

[picolas]

kind of a grindhouse vibe. MATT DAMON CONTAGION.

[Jeremy Blackman]

Matt Damon is a contagion.