Steven Soderbergh wrote a Sex, Lies, and Videotape sequel in quarantine

Who knows what the Hollywood landscape is going to look like when we all emerge from the coronavirus quarantine, but director Steven Soderbergh knows what he wants to do.

The filmmaker behind Contagion and Logan Lucky revealed as a guest on Flaviar's Nightcap Live YouTube series that he wrote a sequel to his 1989 indie drama Sex, Lies, and Videotape during the lockdown. "This is a big one," he said when asked about his future projects.

"During the lockdown, I've done more sustained writing than I've done since the summer of 1985," he said. "And it's worth noting that I never considered myself a writer. I wrote as a way to get into the business because nobody can stop you from sitting down in front of a keyboard and writing."

"When the lockdown happened here in New York," he added, "in order to stay organized and sane, I decided I’m going to write. I've gotta go back to writing. So, within the first six or seven weeks of the lockdown, I finished three different screenplays. One of them was a rewrite, one of them was an original, and one was an adaptation of a novel that I’ve been wanting to do. The original was a sequel to Sex, Lies, and Videotape. It was an idea that had been circling for a while, and I felt like I came up with a way to get back in. And so I wrote it, and I want to make it."

Sex, Lies, and Videotape starred Andie MacDowell, Peter Gallagher, Laura San Giacomo, and James Spader. It's the story of a married couple, Ann (MacDowell) and John (Gallagher), trapped in an unsatisfying relationship wherein John regularly cheats on Ann with her sister, Cynthia (San Giacomo). Shaking things up is Graham (Spader), John's old college friend, who comes to town and films both Ann and Cynthia talking about their sexual desires. The more modern parallels to this concept about the complications caused by video confessionals are apparent.

The film was nominated for an Oscar for Soderbergh's screenplay, as well as three Golden Globe nominations. It also won the coveted Palme d'Or top prize at the Cannes Film Festival. Soderbergh later released his film Full Frontal in 2002 that was considered a spiritual sequel.

Watch the full episode with Soderbergh above and ask yourself whether you've been as productive as the director.

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