When you look up “hustle” in the dictionary, there better to be a picture of Steven Soderbergh. With an app-turned-TV-show on HBO right now called “Mosaic,” Soderbergh is also set to premiere his horror film, shot completely on an iPhone, “Unsane” later this year. But if you thought that this meant that the filmmaker was going to slow down, you have another thing coming.
According to The Film Stage, Soderbergh is prepping his next film titled “High Flying Bird” to begin production sometime this month. Teaming up with Soderbergh is none other than Andre Holland, perhaps best known for his roles in the Showtime series “The Knick” and last year’s Best Picture “Moonlight.” It’s his role in “The Knick” that hooked Holland up with Soderbergh the first time.
“High Flying Bird” tells the story of a sports agent, played by Holland, who presents his rookie NBA client with “an intriguing and controversial business opportunity” during an NBA lockout. The film is written by Tarell Alvin McCraney, who teamed up with Barry Jenkins on the Academy Award-winning script for “Moonlight.” Needless to say, with these three talented people leading the way, this is a film you’ll definitely want to keep your eye out for.
However, this is Steven Soderbergh we’re talking about, so you know he’s already thinking two steps ahead. Deadline is reporting that we may know what Soderbergh’s next, next project is going to be. Studio 8 has just acquired the pitch for a film called “Planet Kill,” which Soderbergh is attached to produce with an eye to direct. The pitch comes from Scott Z. Burns and James Greer, who are best known for Soderbergh projects “Contagion” and “Unsane,” respectively. No word yet on what the plot for the film is, but it’s being described as an action-thriller.
There’s also no confirmed reports whether or not Soderbergh will shoot either or both of these projects on an iPhone. Apparently, that’s a question that needs to be answered with each new project from the filmmaker.