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December 06, 2005

Soderbergh 2.0: The Good Bubble

While shooting The Good German Steven Soderbergh talks tech with Xeni Jardin at WIRED. What's up with the day-and-date theatrical/DVD release of Bubble in January? "Name any big-title movie that's come out in the last 4 years. It has been available in all formats on the day of release. It's called piracy... Ocean's Eleven, and Ocean's TwelveI saw them on Canal Street on opening day. Simultaneous release is already here. We're just trying to gain control over it." Soderbergh notes the little-noted Warner Bros. plan to release "low-cost DVDs simultaneously in China because piracy is so huge there," which began with Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. "It will be a while before bigger movies go out in all formats; in five years, everything will." Of Bubble: "A movie that costs only $1.6 million doesn't have to be a cultural event to turn a profit." Soderbergh returns to the self-distributing model he's been talking up. "When the changeover from film to digital happens in theaters in five or 10 years, you're going to see name filmmakers self-distributing. Another thing that really excites me: I'd like to do multiple versions of the same film. I often do very radical cuts of my own films just to experiment, shake things up, and see if anything comes of it. I think it would be really interesting to have a movie out in release and then, just a few weeks later say, "Here's version 2.0, recut, rescored." The other version is still out there - people can see either or both. For instance, right now I know I could do two very different versions of The Good German.... As technology gives filmmakers more freedom, you'll see them producing work that is more unique, less beholden to the mainstream film template. That means rethinking the economics. But I'm always willing to gamble."

Posted by pride at December 6, 2005 05:39 PM

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