Steven Soderbergh says he's working on a 'philosophical' sequel to 'Contagion'

The 2011 thriller drew great interest in 2020 during the coronavirus pandemic

Steven Soderbergh says he is working on a 'philosophical' sequel to his 2011 film 'Contagion'. AP Photo

Contagion may have been released in 2011, but it was one of the most talked-about films of 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Directed by Steven Soderbergh, the thriller tells the story of a deadly virus outbreak that causes a global pandemic, and the resulting societal collapse. For many people who revisited the film this year, it felt all too familiar.

Recently Soderbergh appeared on the Happy Sad Confused podcast where he announced he is working on a follow-up to Contagion and teaming up once again with screenwriter Scott Burns who he also worked with on the film.

Billed as a "philosophical" sequel to the original, Soderbergh says the new project would play alongside Contagion with a similar theme, but not be directly related or tell a continued story from the first film.

While he wouldn't give any more details, he insisted they were hard at work on the story, but admitted, "We should probably hotfoot it a little bit."

Contagion featured an ensemble cast that included Matt Damon, Kate Winslet, Laurence Fishburne, Marion Cotillard, Jude Law and Bryan Cranston among others.

Back in March, around the start of the pandemic, the film began trending. At one point, it was the most downloaded film on iTunes and Google Play in the Middle East region.

Click below to see the trailer for 'Contagion':