Steven Soderbergh Says He Has Only "Three or Four Years" Left as a Filmmaker

In an inexplicable “WTF?” moment, Steven Soderbergh told a writer at The Guardian this week that he regrets making Che because the shoot was so intense and that he thinks he only has "three or four years" left in him as a filmmaker.

“I’m looking at the landscape and I’m thinking, ‘Hmmm, I don’t know. A few more years maybe,’” Soderbergh said. “And then the stuff that I’m interested in is only going to be of interest to me.” He added: “In terms of my career, I can see the end of it. I’ve had that sensation for a few years now.”

On Che, his four-plus-hour Che Guevara biopic that was a hotly debated sensation at Cannes (and went on to open to a lukewarm international reception), Soderbergh said that “for a year after we finished shooting I would still wake up in the morning thinking, ‘Thank God I’m not shooting that film.’”

Asked if he regretted making it, he replied, “Yeah.”

The interview has become one of the most-talked-about Hollywood stunners in a while, and it comes on the heels of a very public battle over the baseball movie Moneyball, which ended with Soderbergh departing the project. His next film, The Informant!, a comedy, opens in October.

Related links:

News: Watch the Tailer for Steven Soderbergh's The Informant!

News: Steven Soderbergh's Moneyball Delayed Indefinitely

Review: The Girlfriend Experience

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2 Comments

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By julie on July 23, 2009

just so you know, this article was retracted..the quotes were made up.

By Paste News on July 23, 2009

Julie, we've seen similar comments from readers on other sites about this article, but no one has offered any proof. The Guardian story certainly wasn't retracted, as you can see here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2009/jul/14/steven-soderbergh

There was some concern that the quotes were old and not informed by the "Moneyball" debacle, but that, too, turned out to be false. The Playlist spoke to the writer at the Guardian. The interview went down July 9; the "Moneyball" story broke June 21. Check out the comments thread here: http://theplaylist.blogspot.com/2009/07/steven-soderbergh-taking-on-theater.html

We're still curious about where these doubts come from, though, so please link us if you can.