At the moment, it’s arduous to think about anybody ever turning down three-time Oscar winner Steven Spielberg. However the filmmaker revealed that he was beforehand rejected a number of occasions after asking to direct a James Bond film.
Throughout a latest interview on The Rest Is Entertainment podcast, the Disclosure Day director was requested if he regrets not helming a 007 movie.
“I have regrets that they didn’t approach me to direct a Bond film,” Spielberg clarified. “I approached Cubby Broccoli [James Bond franchise producer] after Jaws was a big hit. I’d always wanted to make a James Bond film from the day I saw Dr. No, so I called Cubby Broccoli after Jaws and volunteered. I said, ‘If you need a director, I would love to direct one.’ And he said no and he moved on.”
The E.T. the Further-Terrestrial filmmaker stated he pitched himself once more a couple of years later following the discharge of 1977’s Shut Encounters of the Third Type. On the time, he recalled Broccoli reaching out, asking to make use of his movie’s iconic five-note musical melody in a scene in 1979’s Moonraker.
“I said, ‘I’ll make you a deal. I’ll give you permission to use the five notes if you let me direct a Bond film.’ And he said no. But I gave him the five notes anyway,” Spielberg recounted. “They consistently turned me down. He never explained why he wasn’t letting me into the Bond family.”
Nevertheless, when one door closes (or refuses to open on this case), one other door opens. Regardless of not getting the chance to direct a Bond pic, Spielberg truly discovered his approach to one other iconic movie franchise: Indiana Jones.
“When I told that story to George Lucas in 1977, when we were in Hawaii together getting ready for the release of Star Wars: A New Hope, he said, ‘I have something better than Bond. It’s called Indiana Smith,’ which is what it was called at the time,” The Fabelmans director defined. “He told me the premise of the Indiana Jones series, and that’s how I got that job.”
He went on to helm 4 Indiana Jones motion pictures, beginning with 1981’s Raiders of the Misplaced Ark.
Quick ahead to right this moment, and if Spielberg had been to be requested to direct a Bond movie now, he admitted, “My answer would be: ‘You can’t afford me.’” In the meantime, Dune director Denis Villeneuve has been tapped to direct the following installment, the primary from Amazon MGM Studios.
Spielberg’s latest film, Disclosure Day, releases in theaters June 12.
