Steven Soderbergh Pitched a Two-Track James Bond Plan to Split 007 Into Parallel Franchises

Steven Soderbergh is one of those directors who, outside of his time playing in the Ocean's Eleven sandbox, doesn't exactly leap to mind when you’re thinking about blockbuster franchise guys. That reputation isn’t because he wasn’t ever interested—turns out, Soderbergh has thrown his hat into the ring for a couple of the world’s biggest pop culture machines. And, honestly, the backstory is way more interesting than you'd expect.

Soderbergh + Star Wars = Never Happened

First, let’s get the Star Wars thing out of the way. Soderbergh once tried to team up with Adam Driver (yep, everyone's favorite Ben Solo/Kylo Ren) on a project set in a galaxy far, far away. Fans online seemed to absolutely lose their minds over the idea of a 'Ben Solo' movie, but—plot twist—the project fizzled. Soderbergh’s current take on the whole Star Wars question? A firm and almost comically blunt:

'Nope. Look, if it was gonna happen, it would have happened. It's that simple.'

So, don’t hold your breath for 'Star Wars: Soderbergh Drift.' Done and dusted.

Soderbergh's Wild James Bond Idea

Now, here’s where things get a lot more intriguing (and, honestly, downright weird in a good way). While talking to The Playlist about his new film The Christophers, Soderbergh dropped the behind-the-scenes details on his Bond ambitions. Back in 2008, he pitched a very off-the-wall proposal to Barbara Broccoli—the overlord of all things Bond at EON Productions.

Soderbergh's plan? Start a separate, parallel James Bond movie series. And not just more of Daniel Craig’s brooding MI6 agent. He wanted to go hardcore—think R-rated, set in the swinging 1960s, way more violent and sexy, and weaving in fictional backstories to real historical events. Oh, and his Bond wouldn’t just be another of the usual actors—this would be a different universe with a totally new guy in the tux.

In his words, the series would be 'cheaply made' in the Soderbergh style—something fans of his films like Haywire or Black Bag could spot a mile away. Not a big-budget, globe-trotting explosion-fest, but razor-sharp and a bit gritty.

The 'Twofer' James Bond Plan

It gets even weirder: Soderbergh didn’t just want to create a new, edgy Bond timeline—he also told the producers he was game to make a giant, regular Bond movie, too. But here’s the catch: he wanted both gigs or none at all.

• Pitch #1: The “parallel” 1960s, R-rated, auteur-driven Bond—a totally separate mini-franchise.
• Pitch #2: Your standard, big-budget, contemporary Bond adventure—this would have slotted in right after Skyfall (the job that eventually became Spectre).

Soderbergh basically told them: 'It’s all or nothing. Do both with me or do neither. I want to direct the big one, then immediately do my experimental one.' And, as he admits, that may have come off a little aggressive—maybe even overconfident for the Bond gatekeepers. He also says these ideas weren’t exactly formal job applications, more like, “Hey, here’s a wild idea for what Bond could be.”

In a fun twist, he was imagining giving filmmakers like David Fincher or Quentin Tarantino a chance to run wild with the parallel Bond, but—even he admits—he hadn’t remotely talked to those guys. The whole thing was more of a hallucinatory pitch for ‘hardcore auteur, low-budget period Bond’—the kind of thing only Soderbergh would think up after two espressos and a re-watch of From Russia with Love.

In the end, EON stuck to business as usual. But you have to admit: a split Bond universe—one prestige and polished, the other raw and risky—sounds like the most interesting Bond news we've heard in ages. Too bad the only place it exists is in the imagination of Steven Soderbergh.