(Updated 12/23/2024)
Is there a more prolific working filmmaker than Steven Soderbergh? It seems like you can’t go two days without the man releasing another movie. It’s one thing to be a consistently working filmmaker. Not everyone can manage that but it is at least doable. It’s another thing entirely to be so good for so long with an output as vast and varied as his.
2025 will mark the sixth time in Soderbergh’s career that he’ll release more than one film. First up is PRESENCE, a "horror" movie that fits right in Soderbergh’s more experimental tendencies: a haunted house movie shot from the perspective of the ghost. For every experiment, Soderbergh will often throw a splashy, starry affair into the mix.
In this case, that movie is BLACK BAG, which reunites Soderbergh with two major actors: Cate Blanchett and Michael Fassbender. If the idea of a movie from the ghost’s POV sounds a little too out there for you, check out the trailer for BLACK BAG and we'll talk more about this spy thriller.
What's the Black Bag Release Date?
Focus Features will release BLACK BAG in movie theaters on March 14, 2025.
Watch the First Black Bag Trailer
We've seen several variations on the "married spies" formula, and here Soderbergh puts his own spin on the entertaining premise. It's an inversion of his OCEANS formula in a way — there, romantic couples who are involved in the same shady business inevitably work together. Here, it seems clear that things won't work out so cleanly. Or that's what the trailer suggests, at least!
Soderbergh Is on Fire
From small experiments like BUBBLE and SCHIZOPOLIS, or movies shot on an iPhone (UNSANE, HIGH FLYING BIRD), to major Oscar contenders (TRAFFIC, ERIN BROCKOVICH), Soderbergh has truly done it all.
What’s most astounding is his sheer level of output post-”retirement” in 2013. Soderbergh was very clear that the HBO Original BEHIND THE CANDELABRA would be his final film. Since coming back in 2017 with LOGAN LUCKY (a crowd-pleasing complement to his OCEANS movies), the man has made a whopping ten films. Movies often take a long time to make but when Soderbergh gets an idea, he runs with it. The work is even more remarkable when you consider that Soderbergh also often works as cinematographer and editor on his movies.
Who's in the Cast of Black Bag?
Given how prolific Soderbergh is, it's a surprise that he has only done one previous movie with each of the stars. Maybe that speaks to how busy and in-demand they are. For Fassbender, this is a reteaming with Soderbergh for the first time since the criminally underrated HAYWIRE, released in 2011. It's been even longer since the director worked with Blanchett, on 2008's not-exactly-underrated THE GOOD GERMAN.
It’s an exciting time to be a Fassbender fan, since returning to the screen after a brief hiatus in 2019, the Irish star has been on quite a run. From his incredible performance in THE KILLER to popping up in small indies like KNEECAP, Fassbender's return to movie screens is a welcome development.
The multi-Oscar winning Cate Blanchett needs no listing of bonafides. Not one to rest on her laurels, she’s keen to do equally compelling work in a Marvel movie like THOR: RAGNAROK or a quirky indie like last year’s Canadian farce RUMOURS or the culture-shifting TÁR. Soderbergh's BLACK BAG looks like something different yet again.
(And there's another bonus here in that Blanchett and Fassbender have never acted opposite one another. They're both in Terrence Malick's movie SONG TO SONG from 2017, but do not share any scenes.)
Rounding out the cast is hot new star Regé-Jean Page (Netflix’s "Bridgerton"), Oscar-nominee Naomie Harris and James Bond himself, Pierce Brosnan.
Black Bag Also Comes From the Writer of Jurassic Park
Perhaps most notable is that BLACK BAG’s script was penned by David Koepp. If Soderbergh is prolific, then David Koepp must never sleep. If you read our article about Soderbergh's PRESENCE, you'll remember that Koepp wrote that movie, too.
The man’s credits are endless, from JURASSIC PARK, to CARLITO’S WAY, MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE, and SPIDER-MAN, for starters. If you love it, there’s a better-than-average chance Koepp wrote it. His first collaboration with Soderbergh came with 2022’s prickly, paranoid thriller KIMI. The director must have loved that experience because both of his 2025 films are written by the scribe. They’re an unlikely duo, but perhaps Koepp feeds Soderbergh’s curiosities.
BLACK BAG opens on March 14.
All images courtesy of Focus Features.