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During his long career, American filmmakerSteven Soderbergh has worked on several projects which never progressed beyond the pre-production stage under his direction. Some of these projects fell into development hell, were officially canceled, were in development limbo or would see life under a different production team.[1][2]
In the 1980s, Soderbergh was one of many directors attached to directLem Dobbs's screenplayEdward Ford, a drama about anobsessive-compulsive disorder patient trying to become a Hollywood actor, for20th Century Fox.[3]
After the success ofSex, Lies, and Videotape, Soderbergh had planned on adapting the post-apocalyptic novelThe Last Ship byWilliam Brinkley as his next film. It was set to be produced bySydney Pollack.[1] After several unsatisfactory screenplay drafts however, Soderbergh would ultimately choose to abandon the project in favor of makingKafka.[4]
In 1997, Soderbergh was attached to directThe Crowded Room, based onDaniel Keyes'non-fiction novelThe Minds of Billy Milligan, after the rights were optioned byWarner Bros. He wanted to castSean Penn in his version.[6]
On June 23, 2003, Soderbergh was set to co-write with Scott Kramer the screenplay forDavid Gordon Green's adaptation of the novelA Confederacy of Dunces.[8]
On October 23, 2008, it was announced that Soderbergh was planning to direct a3Dlive actionrock and rollmusical titledCleo, withCatherine Zeta-Jones andHugh Jackman portrayingCleopatra andMarc Antony respectively;Gregory Jacobs andCasey Silver signed on to produce the film. The music for the projected $30 million production was written by the indie rock bandGuided by Voices, with screenplay byJames Greer, a former bass player for the group.[9] In December that year,Ray Winstone was in talks to portrayJulius Caesar.[10] On January 2, 2009, Jackman dropped out of the project.[11] On September 4, 2009, Soderbergh weighed the possibility of makingCleo or a proposedLiberace biopic, which becameBehind the Candelabra, before retiring.[12] On June 16, 2012, Zeta-Jones admitted onThe View that she and Soderbergh would try to make it as aBroadway stage show.[13]
In 2008, while filmingThe Informant!, Soderbergh andScott Z. Burns were writing a script for a biopic aboutLeni Riefenstahl, but ultimately chose to makeContagion after weighing the commercial prospects between the projects.[14][15]
On July 12, 2009,Jules Asner revealed onAdam Carolla's podcast that Soderbergh wanted to make a sequel toThe Limey,[16] and Soderbergh revealed the following September that he andLem Dobbs were writing the screenplay with a focus on new characters while collaborating onHaywire.[17]
On March 4, 2010, Soderbergh was set to produce the biographical crime filmMaking Jack Falcone withPeter Buchman writing the screenplay andBenicio Del Toro set to portray FBI agent Jack Garcia forParamount Pictures.[18]
On November 16, 2010, Soderbergh was set to direct thefilm adaptation ofThe Man From U.N.C.L.E. withScott Z. Burns writing the screenplay andJohn Davis andDavid Dobkin producing.[19] In 2011,George Clooney was set to star, but left the due to a back injury.[20] On October 20, 2011,Bradley Cooper was set to replace Clooney,[21] but in November that year, Soderbergh dropped out as director andGuy Ritchie was hired to replace him.[22][23]
In February 2018, Soderbergh was set to produce and possibly directScott Z. Burns and James Greer's original action thrillerPlanet Kill, withStudio 8 set to produce.[24]
In April 2018, Soderbergh was in the process of developing a six-part miniseries written byLem Dobbs about the life of 19th-century adventurerEmin Pasha.[25]
In 2019, Soderbergh was set to produceFlorida Man, anElmore Leonard-style TV series with BenDavid Grabinski attached as the showrunner after replacingMichael Waldron.[26] On June 4, 2021, the project evolved into a buddy cop movie, then retitledGator and the Egg, with Gabinski writing the screenplay,Stacey Sher, Michael Shamberg, John Henson and Soderbergh producing, andTricia Brock set to direct throughAmazon Studios.[27]
On May 19, 2020, Soderbergh was possibly going to direct and produce a sequel toHigh Flying Bird thatAndre Holland was working on forNetflix.[28] On September 24, 2020, Soderbergh confirmed that the sequel's screenplay was written.[29]
On September 24, 2020, Soderbergh was set to only executive produce a spinoff ofThe Knick starring Andre Holland, with Jack Amiel and Michael Begler writing the series andBarry Jenkins attached to direct and produce.[29]
On December 30, 2020, Soderbergh announced that a "philosophical sequel" to his filmContagion was in the works.[30]
In October 2025, actorAdam Driver revealed that Soderbergh had secretly developed a spin-off ofStar Wars: The Rise of Skywalker calledThe Hunt For Ben Solo, which focused on Driver's character ofKylo Ren. Soderbergh andLogan Lucky writerRebecca Blunt co-wrote the story, whileScott Z. Burns wrote the script.[31]The Walt Disney Company rejected the script, asBob Iger and Alan Bergman didn't find believable how the character would be still alive after the events of theStar Wars sequel trilogy.[32]
