Star Wars: Steven Soderbergh Shared His Lucasfilm Rejection Letter on Social Media

With hits like Traffic, the Ocean's Eleven trilogy and the Magic Mike films under his belt, [...]

By Patrick Cavanaugh

With hits like Traffic, the Ocean's Eleven trilogy and the Magic Mike films under his belt, director Steven Soderbergh is one of the most celebrated filmmakers of the 21st century. Things weren't always like that, as the director took to Twitter to share the rejection letter he received from the studio back in 1984.

Only 21 years old at the time, the demo reel he sent to the studio didn't have much material on it, but he showed his initiative in pursuing his dream. At the time, the demo would have merely composed of freelance editing and the creation of scores for a variety of different TV game shows.

Five years after this rejection letter, Soderbergh made a name for himself with his debut feature sex, lies and videotape, which not only played at the Cannes Film Festival, but also took home the Palme d'Or, the festival's top honor.

The filmmaker might not have gotten the opportunity to work for Lucasfilm or make his mark in the galaxy far, far away, but this year he did work with Kylo Ren himself, Adam Driver, who starred in Logan Lucky.

While not scoring a potential dream job would be an obvious frustration, Soderbergh's comments about how the experience made him stronger have certainly proved true, earning himself a variety of Academy Awards nominations and even a Best Picture win with Traffic. Were the filmmaker to have gone down the path of fantastical filmmaking, he might have never explored more independent methods of filmmaking that earned him many of his successes.

Soderbergh might not have been able to get his foot in the door with an unsolicited videotape, but fellow defining 21st-century filmmaker David Fincher got his start with Lucasfilm, serving in the visual effects department for Return of the Jedi. Fincher's work went on to drastically differ from that of the Star Wars saga, directing dark films like Seven, Fight Club and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

Regardless of how Soderbergh's life would have changed had he gotten a job with Lucasfilm, the important takeaway was that the director wasn't dismayed by the experience and viewed the rejection as nothing more than another opportunity to prove people wrong.

[H/T ScreenCrush]

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