The Playlist

'Side Effects' Writer Scott Z. Burns & 'Game Change' Director Jay Roach Team For Lance Armstrong Movie

By Kevin Jagernauth
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March 8, 2013 2:34 PM
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2 Comments

News

While it remains to be seen when J.J. Abrams will get to his Lance Armstrong movie that he's producing, now that he's involved in the world of "Star Wars," a rival project is brewing and it's already boasting some great talent.

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Scott Z. Burns Talks Writing 'Side Effects,' Confirms Soderbergh Is Directing His Columbine Play 'The Library'

By Drew Taylor
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February 8, 2013 11:20 AM
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Interviews

It was supposed to be so easy: Steven Soderbergh, for his last theatrical feature, was going to reteam with two of his favorite collaborators (handsome movie star George Clooney and his "Contagion" screenwriter Scott Z. Burns) for a big budget Hollywood spectacle, an adaptation of the television spy series "The Man From U.N.C.L.E." But, things slowly fell apart, first when an injury sidelined Clooney and then when Warner Bros, nervous about Soderbergh going with a potentially unproven star (and shaky about the budget and period setting), shuttered the project indefinitely. But, just as Soderbergh moved from "Moneyball" to "Haywire," so too did Burns and Soderbergh soldier on, this time turning to a project Burns had wanted to direct himself – a psychosexual thriller set in the pharmaceutical industry called "Side Effects."

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Exclusive: 'Side Effects' Writer Scott Z. Burns Talks His 'Full Metal Jacket' Version Of 'Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes'

By Drew Taylor
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February 7, 2013 3:05 PM
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News

One of the big surprises of the summer of 2011 was just how damn good Rupert Wyatt's "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" was. There wasn't a whole lot of buzz about the movie beforehand, aside from what seemed like an incredibly-truncated production schedule for a movie that was so grand in scope and scale, especially considering how the apes were being brought to life for the first time with next-gen performance capture technology. But it totally worked, delivering an expert mixture of rollercoaster thrills and genuine emotional gravitas.

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Interview: Steven Soderbergh Talks 'Side Effects'; 'Behind The Candelabra' & Comparing 'Dragon Tattoo' Notes With David Fincher

By Rodrigo Perez
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February 7, 2013 12:04 PM
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Interviews

Steven Soderbergh is almost out the door. Last week we rolled out part one of our interview with the filmmaker about his impending retirement from cinema, his process of filmmaking, the "tyranny of narrative," and his upcoming directorial efforts on the stage (including reviving an old film project, "Cleopatra"). Today, we deliver our final part of our lengthy chat with the director focusing on his Scott Z. Burns-penned pharma-thriller-caper, "Side Effects."

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Scott Z. Burns Says David Fincher's '20,000 Leagues' Aiming For Thematic Mix Of Technology, Commerce & Humanity

By Drew Taylor
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February 6, 2013 2:05 PM
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3 Comments

News

As far as big-budget extravaganzas go, there are a few that keenly attract our attention, and one of them is the proposed adaptation of Jules Verne's "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" that Disney is potentially mounting with director David Fincher and screenwriter Scott Z. Burns. A large-scale piece of mainstream entertainment crafted by the duo behind edgier recent fare like "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo" and "Contagion" is an intriguing idea. And when we talked to Burns about "Side Effects," his new psychosexual thriller directed by Steven Soderbergh (our review here), we had to ask him about the progress of Captain Nemo and the Nautilus.

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Writer/Producer Scott Z. Burns Says 'Contagion' May Infect As A TV Series

By Charlie Schmidlin
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February 4, 2013 9:24 AM
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3 Comments

Television

One of the cruelest punchlines Steven Soderbergh's ever contributed in his substantial filmography was the first attendee's muffled cough after a packed screening of “Contagion.” And packed it likely was, as the film made a cool $135 million worldwide alongside great reviews, but now with the director off pursuing the next phase of his career, his collaborator Scott Z. Burns is now looking to bring a planned follow-up to a more germophone friendly venue.

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Steven Soderbergh Says 'Side Effects' Isn't A "Big Pharma" Movie & Explains Why Every Shot Matters

By Gabe Toro
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February 1, 2013 11:24 AM
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2 Comments

Interviews

With “Side Effects,” director Steven Soderbergh is about to see the release of his final theatrical film (read our review here). The picture, dealing with the rabbit hole that one doctor (Jude Law) falls into when treating a depressed patient (Rooney Mara) has elements of an "issue film," but at a Lincoln Center screening earlier this week, Soderbergh and writer Scott Z. Burns claim that’s just a bit of misdirection.

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Watch: 'Side Effects' Goes Over The Counter With 3 More Clips

By Ken Guidry
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January 31, 2013 10:25 AM
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News

Steven Soderbergh’s penultimate film “Side Effects” is, for many people, the first film of 2013 that’s worth seeing. Starring Jude Law, Rooney Mara, Channing Tatum and Catherine Zeta-Jones, the psychological thriller already unveiled a couple of clips, and now three more have arrived for people to take a gander at before the movie comes out a week from now.

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Scott Z. Burns Says Steven Soderbergh's 'The Man From U.N.C.L.E.' Would've Centered On 1966 Palomares B-52 Crash

By Charlie Schmidlin
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January 31, 2013 9:18 AM
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2 Comments

News

Now that Steven Soderbergh's hiatus from film has finally arrived (read our discussion with him here), alongside speculation on the director's next professional move comes reflection on his career thus far. One of his most involved projects -- an adaptation of '60s spy show “The Man From U.N.C.L.E.” -- was scrapped in late 2011 after years of development, but now Soderbergh's longtime collaborator has finally revealed what could've been.

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Steven Soderbergh To Direct Scott Z. Burns-Penned Play In The Fall; 'Kafka' To Get Major Overhaul For DVD Release

By Rodrigo Perez
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January 28, 2013 1:17 PM
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4 Comments

News

While he didn't say it as succinctly in our interview with him this weekend, though director Steven Soderbergh is retiring from filmmaking for the time being, that doesn't mean he's retiring, period. The filmmaker told The Playlist while his second-to-last movie, "Side Effects," is due in theaters next week (his final one with Matt Damon and Michael Douglas arrives on HBO in the spring), he also added that directing plays or TV is still an option.

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