Steven Soderbergh has announced he’s retiring from film-making after two more movies. His reason? In a nutshell, boredom.
It has been rumored for a while that Soderbergh was getting out of Hollywood, with Matt Damon previously revealing that the director had told him he wanted to become a painter or photographer. In other words replacing one art form for another, though obviously one that’s has less pressure attached.
Soderbergh has revealed all in an interview with Studio 360′s Kurt Andersen, saying:
“When you reach the point where you’re like if I have to get into a van to do anther scout I’m just going to shoot myself, it’s time to let somebody else who’s still excited about getting in the van, get in the van. And so it’s just time. For the last three years, I’ve been turning down everything that comes my way, so you’re not going to have Steven Soderbergh to kick around anymore.”
“It’s just a sense of having been there before. The making of any art is problem solving, and as you work at it, you’re able to eliminate the versions that aren’t any good faster, but at a certain point the salves sort of become the same. And when I started feeling like I’ve done this shot before, I’ve done a scene that’s about this before, that’s when I started thinking seriously about a shift. But also I don’t want to leave you know, when you see those athletes hang on one or two seasons too long, it’s kind of sad.”
The two movies Soderbergh has left to make before he departs for pastures new are Liberace starring Matt Damon and Michael Douglas, and Man From U.N.C.L.E. starring George Clooney. Then the man who brought us Erin Brockovich, Traffic, Solaris, and the three Ocean’s movies will be setting out on a new adventure. And good luck to him.
