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Steven Soderbergh Signs Exclusive First-Look Deal With HBO & HBO Max
Acclaimed director and Academy Award winner Steven Soderbergh signs an exclusive overall deal to create content for HBO and HBO Max, with first look rights for movies. Considered an early pioneer of independent cinema, Soderbergh made his directorial debut for a feature film in 1989 with the drama Sex, Lies, & Videotape. Telling the story of a disturbed man who tapes women discussing their sexuality, the film won a number of awards at the Cannes Film Festival. Referred to as a sensation and prodigy, Soderbergh’s next efforts were viewed as low-budget box office disappointments. He’s more than bounced back since then, known for a style all his own and a list of movies which are diverse in tone but often unanimously met with acclaim.
The list includes movies that have appealed to both critics and audiences. From Erin Brockovich to the Ocean’s Eleven franchise to Magic Mike, Soderbergh isn’t afraid to slip in and out of genres. The prolific filmmaker does have a number of themes that he likes to explore in his narratives though, examining identities and evaluating systems such as capitalism, through a fast-paced style which often favors techniques such as close-ups and tracking shots. Throughout the course of his career, Soderbergh has also established a slate of recurring collaborators which includes Hollywood heavyweights like George Clooney, Matt Damon, and Julia Roberts.
Soderbergh will now have a chance to bring his themes and different styles, as well as his roster of talent, to HBO. It was announced via a press release by WarnerMedia that the legendary filmmaker has signed a three year deal to develop content for both HBO and HBO Max. The pact dictates exclusivity in all forms of television and first-look rights to his feature films.
Soderbergh has worked with HBO in the past. More generally, he’s worked with Warner Bros., which is a division of WarnerMedia, since the 2001 release of Ocean’s Eleven. In that sense, the newly-announced partnership is a familiar one. Currently, Soderbergh is in the process of filming the upcoming HBO Max film Let Them All Talk. With a cast that features Meryl Streep and Gemma Chan, Let Them All Talk is a comedy about an author that goes on a trip in hopes of coming to terms with her past.
For those seeking an inkling of what other projects Soderbergh will tackle next, it may not be instructive to look just at the director’s filmography. His recent output is reliably varied in genre and subject matter, running the gamut from the psychological horror Unsane to the sports drama High Flying Bird. The topics which interest Soderbergh may differ from one project to the next, but a deeper dive into his influences and his preferred subtexts will likely reveal some of what he plans to do at HBO.
