More from Steven Soderbergh on Haywire at Comic-Con; Again Admits to Retirement Plans
Posted 07.26.11 by Ryan
Amongst all the comic book movie fare and genre movies on display at the 2011 Comic-Con, it seemed an odd place for director Steven Soderbergh's upcoming action/thriller Haywire, at least, according to Soderbergh. While Relativity Media would eventually debut the first trailer at Comic-Con, Soderbergh told The Playlist that he wasn't positive the convention was the perfect place to debut the material.
We weren’t sure if it was the right fit. but ultimately we decided, yeah, this is our take on the action film and we should show it off.
Starring MMA fighter Gina Carano as a double-crossed special agent bent on revenge, Soderbergh told The LA Times that he and screenwriter Lem Dobbs fashioned the movie around Carano after seeing her in a televised match. "I’ve never seen someone perform like that, in a cage," said Soderbergh.
The resulting movie had not only Carano perform her own stunts, but also the rest of the movie's cast, which includes well-known actors Michael Douglas, Channing Tatum and Antonio Banderas.
"They [the actors] wore padding, but when Gina was punching Michael [Fassbender] in the ribs [in the trailer], she was really punching him in the ribs," revealed Soderbergh during the Comic-Con panel. The authentic method was an adjustment for Tatum, the actor revealed.
I had to hit her with a ketchup bottle, and I couldn’t do it. She called me the p-word, so then I did it for my "manity." But then she hit me back twice as hard, and I didn’t want to do it anymore.
Haywire may be one of the last chances for audiences to see how Soderbergh tackles the action genre, since the director has been talking (often) of retirement. While Soderbergh had made some recent comments that implied he was backing off of retirement talks, the director talk with The Playlist, where he revealed he still has an exit plan. "I’m still winding down," admitted Soderbergh.
That leaves Soderbergh to work on Magic Mike, a comedy that stars Channing Tatum and Alex Pettyfer as two male strippers that starts shooting in September; he'll move on to a remake of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. with George Clooney in February. Soderbergh will "finish" his career with the biopic Liberace with Matt Damon and Michael Douglas next summer.
Haywire opens Jan. 20, 2012, and co-stars Michael Angarano and Bill Paxton.
