Relativity goes 'Haywire' (TOH, DH)

By Nancy Tartaglione

Relativity Media announced Wednesday that it will release Steven Soderbergh's action-thriller "Haywire" after all. The film had previously been set to release through Lionsgate but that was before Relativity structured its own distribution arm. Meanwhile, speaking to Deadline, the director reiterated his plans to retire.

"Haywire" stars Gina Carano, Channing Tatum, Ewan McGregor, Michael Fassbender, Antonio Banderas, Bill Paxton, Michael Douglas and Michael Angarano.

Film is a story of espionage and betrayal that follows a female covert ops specialist who strikes back after discovering she's been double-crossed by someone close to her in the agency. Gregory Jacobs is producer, Lem Dobbs wrote the script.

Anne Thompson notes that someone who saw the movie wrote to her: "'Haywire' is pretty fine. Very much like John Huston in his 'Kremlin Letter'/'Mackintosh Man' period."

It will go out wide on January 20, 2012.

Of his self-proclaimed intention to retire Soderbergh told Deadline, "I'm still following my plan. I've been stupid about it, I should have kept my mouth shut, but at the same time, I don't think there's anything that unusual about it. By the time I finish with the series of projects I'm planning, it will be 26 or 27 films. That's plenty and if you take volume over quality, I'm twice as good as Kubrick."

Per Deadlne, Soderbergh said he'll start work in September on "Magic Mike," with Channing Tatum and Alex Pettyfer as male strippers in a coming of age story, then he'll direct George Clooney in "The Man From U.N.C.L.E." in February after which "Liberace," with Michael Douglas and Matt Damon, will likely be his swan song.

DH:

"I'm not better at things that I've been trying to get at and I find it frustrating," he said. Asked what he's trying to discover, he said, "A new grammar, maybe. I haven't quite figured out what it is. In lieu of some gigantic epiphany I might feel when I see this new thing I imagine is out there, I feel like I am out of ideas. I find myself saying, I've done this shot before. Or, I've solved this problem before by doing the same thing I'm doing now. I don't like that feeling of, 'I've done this.' If you are dealing within the confines of traditional narrative filmmaking, it's hard not to feel like you're in a box after awhile."

Still, says Deadline, Soderbergh allowed: "Maybe this turns out to be an extended sabbatical, where I recharge myself, but I need an extended break."