Director Steven Soderbergh recently explained why a sequel to his 2011 medical thriller Contagion likely won’t be happening.
Why won’t Contagion 2 happen?
Speaking to The Playlist in a recent interview, Soderbergh was asked about the possibility of a sequel. 2011’s Contagion was a success when it released over a decade ago, but received renewed popularity in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to Soderbergh, though, a sequel won’t happen for one big reason.
Soderbergh said that a conversation about a sequel had happened in the past, but that no momentum ever really kicked up regarding it.
“[Screenwriter] Scott [Z. Burns] and I kind of kicked some ideas around,” Soderbergh said. “[But] it would be tough to go back to that idea for me because that was a really unique circumstance.”
“David Lean talked about not popping out of the same hole twice,” said the director. “I know I’m saying that as somebody who’s been involved with multiple Oceans movies and multiple Magic Mike movies. I don’t know how to mitigate that feeling of, like, we’ve done it before.”
The 2011 movie follows the outbreak and spread of a highly contagious virus that quickly throws the world into a pandemic, while the race for a vaccine goes on. The movie was inspired by the real-life outbreaks of SARS in 2002-2004, and the 2009 flu pandemic.
The movie featured a star-studded cast that included Marion Cotillard, Matt Damon, Laurence Fishburne, Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Winslet, Bryan Cranston, Jennifer Ehle, and Sanaa Lathan.
(Source: The Playlist)
