Steven Soderbergh’s Contagion is a flat-out masterpiece and you will not be able to convince me otherwise. It tells a compelling, timely and frightening story and smartly tells it from multiple angles, giving you an extensive and realistic look at a far-reaching and multi-layered plot.
Obviously many people have been talking about Contagion during the last year because, well, duh. The film has had something of a second life since the coronavirus pandemic began and some have wondered if maybe, just maybe, the film will earn a sequel.
Well, kinda.
Director Steven Soderbergh spoke with the Happy.Sad.Confused podcast and said that he and screenwriter Scott Z. Burns are working on a “philosophical sequel” to the viral outbreak thriller.
“I’ve got a project in development that Scott Burns is working with me on, that’s a kind of philosophical sequel to Contagion, but in a different context. You’ll kind of look at the two of them as kind of paired, but very different hair colors. So, Scott and I had been talking about, ‘So, what’s the next iteration of a Contagion-type story? We have been working on that; we should probably hot foot it a little bit.”
What is a “philosophical sequel”? Beats me! But I am still very much sold on the idea. I doubt it will resemble Contagion plot-wise, it’s unlikely it will again be about a killer disease. But the story structure and the overall feel of Contagion will likely return in this new project. That alone is enough for me.
While we are talking about Contagion, can we give a collective shout-out to all the great performances in that movie? The work by folks like Kate Winslet, Matt Damon, Marion Cotillard and especially Laurence Fishburne is across-the-board fantastic. And that score! And that cinematograhy! And that Sanjay Gupta cameo! Gosh, I love Contagion.
Hat tip to The Playlist for the heads up.