Contagion Director Steven Soderbergh Working on "Philosophical" Sequel

Released in 2011, Steven Soderbergh's Contagion depicted a world stricken by a deadly pandemic, feeling far less like the sci-fi experiences of The Andromeda Strain or Outbreak and more like a precautionary tale about the collapse of society in the face of a deadly virus, with the director recently confirming he's working with that film's writer Scott Burns to develop a "philosophical" sequel to that story. Were the film to be a direct continuation of that story, it would seemingly have to depict the aftermath of another pandemic, though the director claims this new project will instead tackle similar themes to what audiences witnessed in Contagion.

"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," Soderbergh detailed to the Happy Sad Confused podcast. "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."

In the film, a mother (Gwyneth Paltrow) returns to the United States after a trip to Hong Kong, leading her to develop cold- and flu-like symptoms. She shockingly passes away from this virus, marking the beginning of a pandemic that the government attempts to contain, all while amateur reporters aim to uncover the true nature of the threat, resulting in conflicting stories being reported about the deadliness of the virus, igniting paranoia and distrust across the country.

As the coronavirus pandemic spread across the world earlier this year, audiences noticed eerie similarities between the events of the film and what was going on in the real world. When authorities encouraged people to remain in their homes and businesses closed their doors this past March, Contagion quickly became one of the most-streamed movies on a number of streaming services.

When Contagion initially hit theaters, it was well-received by critics, with Rotten Tomatoes calculating nearly 300 reviews as being 85% positive. As compared to some of his other films, however, the film didn't quite earn the financial success of previous endeavors, ultimately taking in $136.5 million worldwide.

Stay tuned for details on the new film.

Are you looking forward to the new project? Let us know in the comments below!