Steven Soderbergh and an A-List Cast Looking to Battle a ‘Contagion’

The words “a new film about an outbreak of a deadly virus” most likely induce yawns and indifference, and understandably so. By now, Hollywood has fished this well so many times that you might as well peg on ‘post-apocalyptic” and call it a day. Every now and then, however, an addition to such a tired premise comes along that begs for a pardon, due to a high level of talent involved and overall tall potential. Contagion, announced by The Playlist as director Steven Soderbergh’s next official project, is precisely that, working off a script, written by a Scott Z. Burns script that’s strong enough to attract the lot of Kate Winslet, Matt Damon, Marion Cotillard and Jude Law to star. And, yes, the under-wraps plot is simply “an action thriller about the outbreak of a deadly virus.” That cast does a great job of alleviating any boredom, doesn’t it?

Soderbergh is so impressed with Burns’s script, said to be a mult-plot yarn in the vein of his 2000 film Traffic, that he has decided to put his gazillion other in-development projects (including the biopic Liberace and Gina Carano-starring actioner Knockout) and place Contagion on to the fast track for a fall shoot. The first step will be to shop the project around Hollywood to secure distribution, now that a co-financing deal has been made with Participant Productions. The film’s prestige doesn’t stop with its director and cast, though; Burns wrote the script for Soderbergh’s critically embraced The Informant!, not to mention he previously co-wrote Damon’s The Bourne Ultimatum.

At the rate that new Steven Soderbergh projects are announced, another fast-tracked one could hit the news circuit by week’s end, but hopefully Contagion remains in the lead. The thought of him taking on a genre piece, with that grade-A of a cast, is rather exciting. And how about Matt Damon, huh? Taking this on after he finishes his second Clint Eastwood flick, the reportedly supernatural Hereafter. As Frank Darabont’s The Mist proved, and Martin Scorcese’s Shutter Island will hopefully reiterate, there’s nothing better for genre fans than when cinema’s elite dabble in their world.

The Playlist also notes the humorous origin of Contagion: while filming The Informant!, somebody on set sneezed, which caused Soderbergh and Burns to discuss germs, and ultimately the notion of a “virus movie.”

Source: The Playlist