Here’s an example of what happens when trades rush out to report a story, in a desire to be first, but no one has their ducks in a row. Last night, a flurry of information hit the web about a supposed return to feature filmmaking for Steven Soderbergh, but no one seems to know exactly what it is, for what sounds like a project that’s very much in flux.
READ MORE: Steven Soderbergh Talks ‘Mosaic,’ ‘Kafka,’ & Plans To Still Make ‘The Sot-Weed Factor’
First, Variety reported that Soderbergh would helm "Hillbilly Heist," a movie that would star Channing Tatum and Matt Damon. They later changed the title of the movie to "Logan Lucky," and noted that Warner Bros., Fox, and Sony were all angling to acquire the movie. Meanwhile, Deadline said Damon wasn’t involved, and that the project would be starring Tatum and Michael Shannon and would shoot this fall (to confuse matters more, they have the title reversed as "Logan Lucky"). And THR added that the plot is an "Ocean’s 11" style heist flick, but involving hillbillies.
Out of all three, no one seems to know who penned the script, though with the project reportedly being shown to studios this week, more intel should get out there. For our part, we had heard that Damon is shooting a "secret movie" this year between Alexander Payne‘s "Downsizing" and George Clooney‘s "Suburbicon," but whether or not that project will mark a return to his most frequent collaborator (Soderbergh directed him in "The Informant!," "Ocean’s 11," "Behind The Candelabra," "Contagion," "Che") or is something else entirely, remains to be seen.
For his part, Soderbergh hit Twitter to say that the "story is wrong," and has strongly played down the reports entirely. Check out his tweets below.
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
