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Miami Herald
01-07-2025
- Politics
- Miami Herald
Sex, corruption and tapes: Scandal shakes Spain's Socialist government
In 1989, filmmaker Steven Soderbergh shook up cinema with 'Sex, Lies, and Videotape' which explored the darker sides of sexuality, the lies embedded in human relationships and the objectification of women. I bring this up in light of the political crisis shaking Spain, where the Socialist government (PSOE) of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is on the edge of a cliff. This time, it's not just lies and sex — it's an alleged corruption scheme involving kickbacks received by top Sánchez advisors in exchange for political favors, mostly related to public works contracts. The scandal has reached deep into the PSOE leadership and continues to unfold. At the center of this scandal are three men: former Transport Minister José Luis Ábalos; former PSOE organization secretary Santos Cerdán; and Koldo García, their trusted aide who allegedly handled the dirty money — the commissions that were skimmed off the top and pocketed. These men were instrumental in Sánchez's rise to power and helped consolidate his leadership. But now, their proximity to power makes this all the more damning. And the scandal just deepened Monday: Santos Cerdán was ordered into provisional prison without bail by Spain's Supreme Court. He stands accused of belonging to a criminal organization, accepting bribes, and influence peddling. The judge cited the risk of destruction of evidence and coordinated criminal activity across public institutions. Cerdán now joins Koldo and Ábalos in a fall from grace so severe, even their closest allies have cut ties. The Spanish Civil Guard, in a nearly 500-page report, calls this an organized crime network, and it's inching dangerously close to the prime minister himself. Once welcome at Moncloa Palace, these men are now political poison. Former colleagues who once 'would've put their hand in the fire' for Ábalos and Cerdán now deny ever knowing them. As for Koldo García, he is seen as the operative who got his hands dirty—enriching his superiors, himself, and even his family. In true underworld fashion, García tried to shield himself from the fallout. Knowing the day might come when the whole house of cards collapsed, he secretly recorded conversations with his bosses . These tapes — now in the hands of authorities and partially leaked—are damning. They capture discussions of massive commissions tied to government contracts, awarded to companies willing to pay bribes. The men even quarrel like vultures over how to split the spoils. But it's not just corruption that makes these tapes horrifying. It's also the blatant misogyny. Koldo and Ábalos are caught speaking crudely about the women they allegedly hired for private parties — classifying them by sexual skill, discussing how to divide them and referencing their nationalities (Colombian, Romanian, etc.). The most 'favored' were reportedly assigned apartments. What emerges isn't just kickbacks — but the outlines of a prostitution ring allegedly funded with illicit money. This is especially shocking from a government that touts feminism as a core value. The Sánchez administration has positioned itself as a champion of gender equality, with many female leaders fronting that battle. Listening to these degrading tapes, it's impossible to believe these men reserved their vile language for private chats — it seems embedded in their mindset. And Sánchez, who styles himself a modern, progressive man, surely knew how coarse and sexist these men were. Yet they remained his confidants. Now we wait to see what Sánchez knew — and when. For the moment, he's clinging to victimhood, blaming the opposition for trying to 'bring down a legitimate government.' But legitimacy isn't destroyed from the outside. It's rotted from within. And as for the prime minister's inaction on the misogyny of his closest aides? Let's remember: it's not enough for Caesar's wife to be above suspicion — Caesar himself must be, too. Sadly, many in politics fail that test.
Buzz Feed
04-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Buzz Feed
Andie MacDowell Calls Out Double Standards Around Aging
Andie MacDowell was 31 years old when she landed her breakout role in the 1989 movie Sex, Lies, and Videotape, with the star going on to have a glittering acting career with other huge films including Groundhog Day, and Four Weddings And A Funeral. And Andie has certainly switched up the kinds of characters she plays in recent years. In 2021, she played her real-life daughter Margaret Qualley's eccentric onscreen mom in the Netflix series Maid, and she has played grandmother Del in the fantasy show The Way Home since 2023. Now, a two-year-old interview with Andie has resurfaced on social media, with the star being praised for how she articulately called out the double standards that male and female actors face as they age. Speaking at Cannes in 2023, Andie — who was 65 years old at the time — explained that men are 'allowed to get older' in the industry, whereas women see their job offers dry up. 'Why do we have this expectation for women to not age? You wouldn't question Hugh Grant or George Clooney!' she begins in the resurfaced clip. 'I feel debonair. I'm sorry, I do. I feel that. I feel just like a man, I do. I feel fabulous.' 'Why have men been glorified as they age? I've always talked about this, and I think it really is a psychological thing we have imprinted in us,' Andie went on, before referencing her gray hair. 'If you want me to look different, I can wear a wig. But I'm not coloring my hair — it took me three years for my hair to grow out. I'm not going to color it!' Andie then revealed that while she struggled to book roles in her 40s, things took another turn as she got older. She said: 'I'm more appreciated now… We have this idea that men age and get sexy and women don't, and they don't know what to do with you.' 'So as soon as a man turns 40, they just put him with a younger woman,' she continued. 'And then, psychologically, we give them this power. We think that they are sexy because they've got this younger woman. We give them this power, but we don't do the same thing for a woman. We go: 'Woah! Well, what do we do with her?'''Unless she's very, very powerful in Hollywood,' Andie then clarified. 'Then it's different. But for the majority of women, it's a big struggle. And then we turn 60 and we get to play great characters!' When this video was shared to a popular Reddit forum, people were quick to share their agreement with Andie's no-nonsense remarks. One popular comment reads: "propaganda I'm not falling for: 'men age like fine wine.'" 'Every man acts like they're automatically going to look like Pedro Pascal when they're fifty when that is absolutely not the case. Meanwhile I literally see really good looking women in their fifties all the time,' somebody else claimed. 'This is what always rubs me the wrong way about the whole Silver Fox hype and how men just aging decently is way more gushed over and praised than the women who do the same, and how they're allowed to age and not take care of their skin but older women that get work done are constantly clowned on,' one more wrote.'It's wild how men get 'distinguished' and women get 'washed up,'' another observed. While somebody else concluded: 'Loveeee this and love her whole vibe. If I look half as good as her as I get older I'd be chuffed." What do you make of Andie's resurfaced comments? Let me know down below!
Yahoo
05-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Steven Soderbergh made a near-perfect spy movie. Why hasn't anybody seen it?
Steven Soderbergh has spent his career making movies that go against the grain. He's made indie gems ("Sex, Lies, and Videotape," "The Girlfriend Experience"), off-kilter crime thrillers ("Out of Sight," "The Limey), movies that bring nuance to real-life issues ("Erin Brockovich," the Oscar-winning "Traffic,") and too-real disaster movies that have become even more relevant in retrospect ("Contagion"). When he did play the studio game, as he did with the "Ocean's Eleven" and "Magic Mike" franchises, his movies were made with such originality that you'd wonder why Hollywood hasn't made more like them. (Answer: there's only one Soderbergh.) Few can match Soderbergh's career in terms of diversity and volume: 2025 marks the ninth time in his career that he's released two movies in the same year. Still, Soderbergh has hit a snag lately. While his last two movies, "Presence" and "Black Bag," garnered positive to downright glowing reviews from critics, a lackluster performance at the box office resulted in both leaving theaters quickly. It happened even as "Black Bag," tied with his feature debut "Sex, Lies, and Videotape" as his best-reviewed movie ever, has a 96% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Both were right in Soderbergh's sweet spot, combining a high-end concept (a twisty ghost story, a twisty spy story) with name actors (Lucy Liu, Cate Blanchett, and Michael Fassbender) on a small or relatively economical budget ($2 million and $44 million, respectively). This kind of movie has historically been a winning formula for Soderbergh. Everyone recoups their investments, allowing him to make another one (or two) the next year. But as audiences have stopped flocking to movie theaters in droves and big-budget franchises have become the draw when they do, it's increasingly difficult for a mid-budget movie to succeed. And Soderbergh's latest batting average has shown that even he might struggle to revive the genre. Seeing "Black Bag" disappear from most theaters in just three weeks (it's now available on Video on Demand and hits Peacock on May 2) has Soderbergh questioning his future as a storyteller. "It's not fun to spend a lot of time and effort on something that just occupies zero cultural real estate," Soderbergh told Business Insider. "That's not why any filmmaker wants to make movies. You want as many people to see them as possible. I've really got to think deeply about what kind of material I can find that I'm excited by and has the potential to draw a bigger audience than the last two movies." One thing's for certain: the prolific filmmaker will keep going against the grain to find it. In Business Insider's latest Director's Chair interview, Soderbergh has a frank discussion about the future of movie theaters, his never-made "Logan Lucky" prequel, and why he's not surprised David Fincher is making a sequel to Quentin Tarantino's "Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood." Business Insider: Before we get into the movie's specifics, give me your Monday morning quarterbacking of what the theatrical run of "Black Bag" was like. You made it for $44 million, taking in $36 million worldwide. Steven Soderbergh: It was frustrating. The people we needed to come out didn't come out. And unfortunately, it's impossible to really know why. My concern is that the rest of the industry looks at that result and just goes, "This is why we don't make movies in that budget range for that audience because they don't show up." And that's unfortunate, because that's the kind of movie I've made my whole career. That middle ground, which we all don't want to admit is disappearing, seems to be really disappearing. I mean, it's the best-reviewed movie I've ever made in my career, and we've got six beautiful people in it, and they all did every piece of publicity that we asked them to do and, you know, this is the result. So it's frustrating. I think it was on 2,000-plus screens for three weeks. In your eyes, did you want more runway, or did Focus Features do what it had to do? No. I think they did everything right. Going any wider wasn't going to solve the problem, obviously. They spent the money. I liked the campaign. They were incredibly supportive. I had a good experience with them making the movie. Everything went right except that people just didn't show up. The way the theatrical window has been shortened since COVID is Hollywood programming audiences to stay at home? I don't know. Again, how do you tease out the kind of data that you need to answer that question? Obviously, the topic that never goes away and never will go away is windowing. How do you determine — if people that were aware of "Black Bag" and had some interest in it, if they knew it was going to be 45 or 60 days before it showed up anywhere else, would they have gone? Or did it not matter? We don't know. That's the problem. And that becomes the $100 million question. People know it's out because of the marketing, so are they saying, "Well, I'm going to wait to see that at home?" But here's the thing, Steven: Then they're watching on PVOD, and they would pay as much at home as they did in the theater. Well, all I can tell you is Focus told me they will break even on this movie. I was worried. I don't like losing people's money. Especially when you want to work with them again. Yeah. But when I talked to [Focus Features chairman] Peter Kujawski the Monday after we opened he said, "We'll get out." Unfortunately, the people who write about the movie business aren't privy to how all of that downstream revenue works precisely, and that's why things are perceived as not turning a profit when actually they turn out to be profitable. He told me, "We're fine." But I won't know if any of that is true until I start getting statements, and then I'll be able to see how that world looks. I'll see exactly what they spent on P&A and as the PVOD numbers come in. So by the end of the year, I'll be able to tell if the movie turned a profit, and if so, how. And that's good information. Right. Because that's going to dictate how you want to move forward regarding the kind of movies you want to make. Yeah. It's really not fun when someone asks you, "What are you working on?" and you go, "Oh, I just made this thing," and they go, "Oh, did that come out?" You get tired of that. Let's talk a little about what actually happens in "Black Bag." The ending of George and Katherine embracing in bed confirmed for me that the events in the movie are very much a twisted foreplay for them. Was that how it was always written? It went through a couple of variations of the same idea. It was written initially to be in the bedroom. Then, while we were shooting it, I thought I wanted to do a version where he's making a meal for her because this cooking thing is also very intimate and very much part of their ritual. And then I saw that and it was okay. And I said, I want to go back to the version in the bedroom, but I said to [screenwriter] David [Koepp], I think the reason that I was moving it out of the bedroom was because it was missing just a tiny bit of a button and I couldn't articulate exactly what it was. David said, "I think I know what you mean." He sent me back a variation of the original version in the bedroom, but it had Katherine asking about the money, and that was the little thing, because it's a quiet runner through the movie that she's money-obsessed. That's when I was like, "That's it." After "The Christophers," do you know what you want to make next? What has the release of "Black Bag" made you feel? I don't know. We're finishing "The Christophers" now. Nobody has seen it. It's a single-source, independently financed movie. So I think the most likely course is it will premiere at a festival. Which one? I don't know. But beyond that, I don't know. I've got to figure that out. I'm agnostic in terms of where it shows up, theatrical versus streaming. But you can't keep making the same mistake over and over again. Do you have to go back to the epic route? Do you have the endurance, the heart, the willpower to do something like "Che" again? Physically, I do. Psychologically, though, it's really got to be something that deserves that kind of treatment and doesn't feel like Oscar bait. Is there anything you're developing currently that would have the potential like that at all? No. It does require an aspect of the grandiosity gene, you've got to think about yourself a certain way to want to go out and do those things. That is not my default mode. I have to work myself up to that because I don't have that kind of sense of my place. If I hadn't made "Che," I don't think I would have made "The Knick," which I think is the last epic thing that I've done. "Che" was good for me in that sense. But knowing what goes into that, it has got to be something that I feel really electrified by, and those are just hard to come by. Then you've got to cast Timothée Chalamet. Your wife, Jules Asner, wrote the screenplay for your 2017 movie, "Logan Lucky." When are you two going to stop messing around and give us a sequel? Oh, she's working on stuff. But is she working on another "Logan Lucky"? Well, we talked about it, but when that movie didn't perform well we had to put it away. We had it all set up. We had everybody willing. We were going to do the story of how Daniel Craig's character Joe Bang got into prison. We were going to do that whole story of how things got all fucked up. But you've got to have a hit movie if you want to make a sequel. So you had the cast attached? Everybody wanted to do it. The story was pretty funny. But can you admit that since that movie opened, it has had a second life through streaming? Yeah, and this is why I'm desperate for Warner Bros. to license "The Knick" to Netflix, because I think "The Knick" on Netflix would really go over well. Would that mean you've thrown your hat back in with doing another season of "The Knick"? No. I don't think there's any going back to that. What else is your wife working on? Rebecca Blunt [Jules Asner's pen name] and I have a very professional relationship, and you're never supposed to ask a writer how it's going. Are you as surprised as we are that David Fincher is going to do a "Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood" sequel? No, because of Brad [Pitt]. I think they're always on the lookout for something to do together, and so this was, it sounds like, an unusual set of circumstances where Quentin decided he didn't want to do it and Brad asked him, "Can I show it to David?" and he said sure, and David read it and said let's do it. That seems to be what happened. That's not surprising at all. What's surprising is Quentin's agreeability. This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity. "Black Bag" is available On Demand and digital rental. It will be available to stream on Peacock starting May 2. Read the original article on Business Insider
Epoch Times
03-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Epoch Times
‘Off The Record': Andie MacDowell's Oldest Daughter Hits the Big Screen
R | 1h 35m | Drama | 2025 Model-actress Andie MacDowell broke into the movies with 'Sex, Lies, and Videotape' (1989) and hit stardom with 'Groundhog Day' (1993). MacDowell has two daughters, Margaret Qualley, whose acting career is now well established, and sister Rainey Qualley, a singer-actress. Little sister Margaret's got actor animal-magnetism in spades; big sister Rainey's got musical chops plus mom's bombshell model looks. That is to say, Margaret is no slouch in the looks department either, and Rainey can act—she just needs a better vehicle than 'Off The Record,' the feature debut of Kirsten Foe, who wrote and directed. Astor Grey (Rainey Qualley), in "Off The Record." Quiver Distribution Casting Couch, Kinda Rainey stars as Astor Grey, an aspiring L.A. singer-songwriter who pays the rent with commercial acting, in addition to gigging. Brandyn Verge (Ryan Hansen), a not-quite-washed-up, still fairly famous rock star, notices Astor and reaches out to her on social media. Naturally flattered, Astor agrees to a date—she's starstruck and 25 years old. She's also not immune to the temptation of knowing how effectively one hand washing the other can get immediate results in showbiz. She lets the date move way too fast. Brandyn Verge (Ryan Hansen, L) and Hal (Billy Gibbons), in "Off The Record." Quiver Distribution Red flags appear almost immediately. Brandyn promises to kick Astor's career into overdrive. The next day on a sight-seeing date, he cluelessly runs his fancy red Porsche out of gas in the middle of the desert. It's not entirely cringe, because rock band ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons gives them a ride to a gas station. Gibbons doesn't play his rock star self, but it's a fun cameo. Another fun cameo is hall-of-fame quarterback Peyton Manning as a commercial director. Related Stories 5/14/2023 9/23/2019 Astor's bestie Noelle (Olivia Sui), and her mom, Rosemary (Julia Campbell) metaphorically put a megaphone in Astor's face and scream about all the red flags they're seeing, but Astor is already lost in euphoric, young-woman-powerful-older-man, codependent, people-pleasing, maybe-I'll-get-famous mode. Brandyn can do no wrong, even when he drunkenly rag-dolls out of his Porsche door and pukes on her boots. Nice. Even when her manager Kate (Rebecca De Mornay) sits Astor down with one of Brandyn's exes, who he took for everything she had, Astor has her fingers in her ears, going 'la-la-la-la-la!!' Will Brandyn go to rehab? Will he say 'No, no, no'? Will he invite Astor on a tour as an opening act, proceed to shamelessly lounge around with a groupie on his private jet, and throw Astor's new lyrics out a train window? Will Astor sign a contract? Will she break free of this idiot? 'Off the Record' It's almost the perfect break-out role for Qualley, who's also got a recording career, where she goes by her full name (and stage name), Rainsford. She's got a striking singing voice that ranges from a raspy alto to pop diva, and she's a bit reminiscent of 'Transformers'-era Megan Fox. Her acting is a little thin here, but with a more experienced director, it's clear there's plenty more talent to be trotted out at a later date. While she doesn't have her sister's quirky mega-charisma, hers will nevertheless most likely be a slam-dunk film career, but this wasn't quite the movie-basketball to insure a place on Hollywood's A-list. Astor Grey (Rainey Qualley) performs, in "Off The Record." Quiver Distribution 'Off the Record' also features two songs by Qualley: 'Love Me Like You Hate Me,' and '2 Cents.' These singles will be included in her upcoming album, which will be released alongside the film. New York's highest court recently overturned former movie mogul Harvey Weinstein's 2020 conviction. The timing of this new indie film about a young woman trying to make it in the record industry with the help of an abusive narcissist is suspiciously coincidental. Intentionally timed or not, 'Off the Record' takes the opportunity to illustrate the trafficking element that continues to plague the entertainment industry. It's a commendably heavy-hitting and necessary topic. Unfortunately 'Off the Record' remains lightweight fare. 'Off The Record' is set to premiere simultaneously in theaters and on digital platforms on May 2. Promotional poster for "Off The Record." Quiver Distribution 'Off The Record' Director: Kirsten Foe Starring: Rainey Qualley, Ryan Hansen, Olivia Sui, Julia Campbell MPAA Rating: R Running Time: 1 hours, 35 minutes Release Date: May 2, 2025 Rating: 2 1/2 stars out of 5 Would you like to see other kinds of arts and culture articles? Please email us your story ideas or feedback at
Business Insider
28-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Business Insider
Steven Soderbergh will keep innovating
Steven Soderbergh has spent his career making movies that go against the grain. He's made indie gems ("Sex, Lies, and Videotape," "The Girlfriend Experience"), off-kilter crime thrillers ("Out of Sight," "The Limey), movies that bring nuance to real-life issues ("Erin Brockovich," the Oscar-winning "Traffic,") and too-real disaster movies that have become even more relevant in retrospect (" Contagion"). When he did play the studio game, as he did with the "Ocean's Eleven" and "Magic Mike" franchises, his movies were made with such originality that you'd wonder why Hollywood hasn't made more like them. (Answer: there's only one Soderbergh.) It's a career that few can match when it comes to diversity and volume: 2025 marks the ninth time in Soderbergh's career that he's had two movies released in the same year. But Soderbergh has hit a snag lately. While both of his last two movies, "Presence" and "Black Bag," garnered positive to downright glowing reviews from critics —"Black Bag" is tied with his feature debut "Sex, Lies, and Videotape" as his best-reviewed movie ever, with a 96% rating on Rotten Tomatoes — lackluster performance at the box office resulted in both leaving theaters quickly. Both were right in Soderbergh's sweet spot, combining a high-end concept (a twisty ghost story, a twisty spy story) with name actors (Lucy Liu, Cate Blanchett and Michael Fassbender) on a small or relatively economical budget ($2 million and $44 million, respectively). This kind of movie has historically been a winning formula for Soderbergh, one in which everyone recoups on their investments, allowing him to go make another one (or two) the next year. But as audiences have stopped showing up to movie theaters in droves and big-budget franchises have became the draw when they do, it's become increasingly difficult for a mid-budget movie to succeed. And Soderbergh's latest batting average has shown that even he might struggle to revive the genre. Seeing "Black Bag" disappear from most theaters in just three weeks (it's now available on Video on Demand and hits Peacock on May 2) has Soderbergh questioning his future as a storyteller. "It's not fun to spend a lot of time and effort on something that just occupies zero cultural real estate," Soderbergh told Business Insider. "That's not why any filmmaker wants to make movies. You want as many people to see them as possible. I've really got to think deeply about what kind of material I can find that I'm excited by and has the potential to draw a bigger audience than the last two movies." One thing's for certain: the prolific filmmaker will keep going against the grain to find it. In Business Insider's latest Director's Chair interview, Soderbergh has a frank discussion about the future of movie theaters, his never-made "Logan Lucky" prequel, and why he's not surprised David Fincher is making a sequel to Quentin Tarantino's "Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood." Business Insider: Before we get into the specifics of the movie itself, give me your Monday morning quarterbacking of what the theatrical run of "Black Bag" was like. You made it for $44 million and it took in $36 million worldwide. Steven Soderbergh: It was frustrating. The people we needed to come out didn't come out. And unfortunately, it's impossible to really know why. My concern is that the rest of the industry looks at that result and just goes, "This is why we don't make movies in that budget range for that audience because they don't show up." And that's unfortunate, because that's the kind of movie I've made my whole career. That middle ground, which we all don't want to admit is disappearing, seems to be really disappearing. I mean, it's the best-reviewed movie I've ever made in my career, and we've got six beautiful people in it, and they all did every piece of publicity that we asked them to do and, you know, this is the result. So it's frustrating. I think it was on 2,000-plus screens for three weeks. In your eyes, did you want more runway, or did Focus Features do what it had to do? No. I think they did everything right. Going any wider wasn't going to solve the problem, obviously. They spent the money. I liked the campaign. They were incredibly supportive. I had a good experience with them making the movie. Everything went right except that people just didn't show up. The way the theatrical window has been shortened since COVID, is Hollywood programming audiences to stay at home? I don't know. Again, how do you tease out the kind of data that you need to answer that question? Obviously, the topic that never goes away and never will go away is windowing. How do you determine — if people that were aware of "Black Bag" and had some interest in it, if they knew it was going to be 45 or 60 days before it showed up anywhere else, would they have gone? Or did it not matter? We don't know. That's the problem. And that becomes the $100 million question. People know it's out because of the marketing, so are they saying to themselves, "Well, I'm going to wait to see that at home?" But here's the thing, Steven: Then they're watching on PVOD, and they would be paying as much at home as they did in the theater in that case. Well, all I can tell you is Focus told me they will break even on this movie. I was worried. I don't like losing people's money. Especially when you want to work with them again. Yeah. But when I talked to [Focus Features chairman] Peter Kujawski the Monday after we opened he said, "We'll get out." Unfortunately, the people who write about the movie business aren't privy to how all of that downstream revenue works precisely, and that's why things are perceived as not turning a profit when actually they turn out to be profitable. He told me, "We're fine." But I won't know if any of that is true until I start getting statements, and then I'll be able to see how that world looks. I'll see exactly what they spent on P&A and as the PVOD numbers come in. So by the end of the year, I'll be able to tell if the movie turned a profit, and if so, how. And that's good information. Right. Because that's going to dictate how you want to move forward in regards to the kind of movies you want to make. Yeah. It's really not fun when someone asks you, "What are you working on?" and you go, "Oh, I just made this thing," and they go, "Oh, did that come out?" You get tired of that. Let's talk a little about what actually happens in "Black Bag." The ending of George and Katherine embracing in bed confirmed for me that the events in the movie are very much a twisted foreplay for them. Was that how it was always written? It went through a couple of variations of the same idea. It was written initially to be in the bedroom. Then, while we were shooting it, I thought I wanted to do a version where he's making a meal for her because this cooking thing is also very intimate and very much part of their ritual. And then I saw that and it was okay. And I said, I want to go back to the version in the bedroom, but I said to [screenwriter] David [Koepp], I think the reason that I was moving it out of the bedroom was because it was missing just a tiny bit of a button and I couldn't articulate exactly what it was. David said, "I think I know what you mean." He sent me back a variation of the original version in the bedroom, but it had Katherine asking about the money, and that was the little thing, because it's a quiet runner through the movie that she's money-obsessed. That's when I was like, "That's it." After " The Christophers" do you know what you want to make next? What has the release of "Black Bag" made you feel? I don't know. We're finishing "The Christophers" now. Nobody has seen it. It's a single-source, independently financed movie. So I think the most likely course is it will premiere at a festival. Which one? I don't know. But beyond that, I don't know. I've got to figure that out. I'm agnostic in terms of where it shows up, theatrical versus streaming. But you can't keep making the same mistake over and over again. Do you have to go back to the epic route? Do you have the endurance, the heart, the willpower to do something like "Che" again? Physically, I do. Psychologically, though, it's really got to be something that deserves that kind of treatment and doesn't feel like Oscar bait. Is there anything you're developing currently that would have the potential like that at all? No. It does require an aspect of the grandiosity gene, you've got to think about yourself a certain way to want to go out and do those things. That is not my default mode. I have to work myself up to that because I don't have that kind of sense of my place. If I hadn't made "Che," I don't think I would have made "The Knick," which I think is the last epic thing that I've done. "Che" was good for me in that sense. But knowing what goes into that, it has got to be something that I feel really electrified by, and those are just hard to come by. Then you've got to cast Timothée Chalamet. Oh, she's working on stuff. But is she working on another "Logan Lucky"? Well, we talked about it, but when that movie didn't perform well we had to put it away. We had it all set up. We had everybody willing. We were going to do the story of how Daniel Craig's character Joe Bang got into prison. We were going to do that whole story of how things got all fucked up. But you've got to have a hit movie if you want to make a sequel. Everybody wanted to do it. The story was pretty funny. But can you admit that since that movie opened, it has had a second life through streaming? Yeah, and this is why I'm desperate for Warner Bros. to license "The Knick" to Netflix, because I think "The Knick" on Netflix would really go over well. No. I don't think there's any going back to that. What else is your wife working on? Rebecca Blunt [Jules Asner's pen name] and I have a very professional relationship, and you're never supposed to ask a writer how it's going. No, because of Brad [Pitt]. I think they're always on the lookout for something to do together, and so this was, it sounds like, an unusual set of circumstances where Quentin decided he didn't want to do it and Brad asked him, "Can I show it to David?" and he said sure, and David read it and said let's do it. That seems to be what happened. That's not surprising at all. What's surprising is Quentin's agreeability. This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity. "Black Bag" is available On Demand and digital rental. It will be available to stream on Peacock starting May 2.
