The idea for Black Bag first occurred to screenwriter David Koepp while he was doing research for the first chapter of the blockbuster Mission: Impossible franchise. He interviewed several intelligence operatives on background and found himself fascinated by their personal lives. “All the spycraft stuff was very cool, but I learned more than I ever expected about the people,” he says. “One woman told me that her job made it impossible for her to sustain a relationship. A line in the movie was inspired by my conversations with her. ‘When you can lie about everything, how do you tell the truth about anything?’”
Since they first met over 30 years ago, Steven Soderbergh and David Koepp have become two of the most successful filmmakers in Hollywood, with a string of critical hits and commercial blockbusters that has rarely been matched. Their latest film, Black Bag, the third time they have teamed up as director and writer, respectively, is an unconventional spy drama that takes audiences behind the scenes of a top-secret search for a double agent and into the personal lives of two elite espionage operatives, who are also passionately in love.
The key to their successful collaborations is what Soderbergh describes as the same amount of healthy respect and disrespect for each other. “David is obviously very good at his job and I think he generally likes my directing,” he says. “Knowing that, we’re comfortable being honestly critical with each other. Neither of us feels any need to obfuscate.”
That idea for Black Bag stuck with Koepp
“Think about it,” he says. “If you want to have an affair, it couldn’t be easier. You just say, ‘I’ll be gone for three days and you can’t ask me where I’m going because you don’t have clearance.’ You can’t trust people and people can’t trust you. For George and Kathryn, the confidential information they can’t share goes into what they call their ‘black bag.’”
Soderbergh is always looking for a script that is intelligent and has the potential to be a star-driven, commercial movie. “I love that it’s smart, like so many of David’s scripts,” he says. “And I want as many people as possible to see my work. Black Bag seemed to be the same kind of opportunity that the Ocean’s films presented.”
One of Soderbergh’s best qualities as a director is his decisiveness, in Koepp’s eyes. “Otherwise, you could drown in possibilities. He’s also not afraid of contradictions. In the world of espionage, everything’s ambiguous. Everything’s a puzzle.”
The most significant change Soderbergh suggested during development was moving the story from the U.S. to the U.K., where the main characters are all employed by the NCSC. A division of the country’s Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), the NCSC focuses on intelligence drawn from technology as opposed to their partners MI5 and MI6 (the latter famously the home of James Bond), which gather information from people. “It just felt like a fresher location for this story, if only because there seem to be so many series and movies set in the American intelligence world,” he says. “London is a city I find very cinematic. David agreed to that.”
As the film begins, George is given a list with five names on it, all of whom are suspected of being the traitor. All of them come from the agency’s most elite ranks. “Each of them is aware of Severus,” says Soderbergh. “Each of them has the security clearance that allows them access. There’s nobody else that knows about it. They are the suspects simply because they have knowledge of it.”
“There is a traitor high up in the organization,” adds Koepp. “Nobody’s above suspicion. Remarkably, one of the suspects is Kathryn. That’s a story I hadn’t seen. I wanted to know how two people who are supremely devoted to each other might deal with that.”
Both partners remain elusive, perhaps even mysterious to each other at times, which feeds their passion. “It is an interesting context in which to explore the idea of betrayal,” the director says. “The source of most conflict in the world is somebody feeling they have been betrayed or that a trust has been broken. In this situation, both main characters hold a kind of get-out-of-jail-free card because not only are they not obligated to share everything, in some cases they are forbidden to.”
The center of the conspiracy that George has been asked to investigate is Severus, a piece of malware with the ability to completely destabilize a nuclear facility. “Severus is a bit of dirty tricks that the agency wants kept under wraps,” explains Koepp. “In fact, many countries have already developed destructive software that can be introduced into an opponent’s infrastructure with devastating results. Perhaps most famously, a worm called Stuxnet was introduced into Iranian nuclear reactors and caused some of their components to fail.”
Conventional political thrillers often place a potential large-scale incident at the center of the story, as Soderbergh points out. “Severus functions as an inciting incident, but more importantly, it’s a way to talk about what you do if you think your spouse is violating the unspoken agreement that you made with each other,” he adds.
Koepp readily admits that spy movies are among his favorite genres to write. “People are lying,” he says. “The stakes are astronomical. There’s nothing more fun to write than that. We have all the action, suspense and tension that audiences want from a spy story, plus characters that are compelling and layered.
At times, Black Bag becomes more like Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? than Mission: Impossible. That’s a big part of what audiences will respond to. It brought me back to some of the great 1970s films like Klute and All the President’s Men, which were steeped in paranoia and deceit. The feeling of being lied to was very strong in that era and it’s pretty strong in this story as well.”
Fassbender and Blanchett are authentic movie stars at the top of their professions, in Koepp’s opinion
“Both Michael and Cate bring exceptional acting skill, which is easy to say, but difficult to find,” he notes. “They both have a powerful understanding of screen acting and how to do more with less. George’s job is to withhold, to be steely. Michael’s performance is a masterpiece of minimalism. Cate’s role is much more expressive, but you often wonder what’s really going on behind her eyes.”
Soderbergh worked with Fassbender on the 2011 film Haywire and had wanted to work with him again for years. “He’s always under consideration. I knew he wouldn’t be afraid to play the interiority of George. He burrowed in deep while creating a calm surface that masks a lot of turbulence. Michael can imply a great deal without being flashy.”
The actor was equally eager to work with Soderbergh again, Fassbender says. “I read the script and said I’m in. We talked about details like what kind of spectacles George would wear and that he might have a stainless-steel kitchen. George is a very traditional, old-school character and quite an obsessive guy, so the small things were very important.”
Kathryn is a character that requires a bit of old-fashioned Hollywood glamour in addition to extraordinary acting skills. “Cate just has both these qualities,” says Soderbergh. “Over the years, she’s always kept in touch to find out if there is anything we might work on together, which I’m flattered by. When there is, she gets it immediately.”
Fassbender says that Blanchett took a note from the script to heart that is essential to the character. “It said Kathryn is the head of the table, wherever she sits. But Cate also brings something that I didn’t see on the page. There’s a lot of ambiguity in her performance. Kathryn has built a sturdy exterior wall even for George, but there is vulnerability within her as well. As their colleague Freddie says, the one thing that you can count on is that they’ll do anything for one another.”
Black Bag marks Blanchett’s third go-round with Soderbergh. She says she did not even read the script before saying yes to it. “I just said, ‘Who am I playing?’ It was written by David and directed by Steven.
That’s all I needed to know. Steven’s got amazing panache and range as a filmmaker. He doesn’t stay in the same lane. He understands the outsider’s perspective these characters have, the way they can move almost panther-like through the world.
“David knows how to make great, propulsive narrative dramas that are also really fun,” she continues. “He understands how to play with audience expectations in a delicious way, and then he delivers something even more satisfying than what you were expecting.”
The script did not disappoint her. “Black Bag has a truly satisfying thriller aspect,” she believes. “But it doesn’t use any tricks or withhold information to get your attention. The audience learns things quickly and in unexpected ways. It’s also a psychological study that will make you want to fall into their world. The marriage was something I had not seen before. George and Kathryn would literally kill for each other, which is a good premise for a movie, particularly one dealing with spies.”
The filmmakers were able to reach out directly to the real-life spies at GCHQ/NCSC’s parent organization, who agreed to help with some unclassified elements of their trade. Some cast members, including Fassbender, Burke, Abela, Brosnan and Page, met with real-life GCHQ and NCSC operatives, most of whom could only give their first names — assuming those names were even real.
Fast-moving, clever and surprisingly funny, Black Bag should first and foremost be entertaining, according to its creators
“When Cate saw the movie, she emailed me,” remembers Soderbergh. “The first three words were, ‘That was FUN!’ It would be great if the audience has fun watching it. To be good and to be smart and also fun is a worthy goal — but nowhere near as easy as it sounds. A lot of people worked hard in the aid of creating something that we thought would be really entertaining. That was always our goal.”
Koepp hopes it piques the curiosity of moviegoers. “I’d love people to come out of this movie wondering if the spy world really is like this,” he says. “Myself, I have reason to believe that it is. Anybody who has ever worked in a group situation knows that the personal lives of the people involved will bleed all over it. Then of course we all will want to talk about things like who’s sleeping with whom.”
Soderbergh emphasizes the importance of having what he calls a brain trust to collaborate with.
“You need people who will speak openly and ask questions,” he says. “I’ve been working with producer Greg Jacobs for 30 years. Casey Silver, who is also a producer, was one of the first people I met in the film business. He gave me my first screenwriting job.”
Working alongside Soderbergh is always an exciting creative experience for the producers. “Steven’s natural inclination is to be thoughtful and considerate,” says Silver. “He is totally prepared, technically proficient and completely reliable. His confidence, born of experience, allows for a productive back and forth to solve any issues. He engages gracefully and effectively with both cast and crew.”
Jacobs agrees enthusiastically, adding “Black Bag is a smart, sleek, entertaining and extraordinarily well acted film. With the breadth of experience that Steven has and the working history that we have, everything went smoothly — as usual.”
People like Jacobs and Silver help Soderbergh make sure that the ideas behind the film become the best possible version of themselves, he explains. “There is always a lot of trial and error that grows out of conversations among the brain trust and keeps improving the work and making it clearer,” the director says. Whenever I complete a film, I’m reminded of where we started and how much movement came because of those kinds of conversations. I’d rather not feel like I did it all myself. I want to know I’ve considered everything, pursued every avenue to improve it.”
STEVEN SODERBERGH (Director, Cinematographer, Editor) is a writer, director, producer, cinematographer and editor. This marks his third collaboration with screenwriter David Koepp, following the 2022 thriller KIMI and this year’s horror film Presence. In 2001 he won the Academy Award for Best Director for Traffic, with a rare second nomination in the same year (for Erin Brockovich). In 2013 he won the Emmy for Outstanding Directing for his HBO film “Behind the Candelabra.” Soderbergh previously received an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay for sex, lies, and videotape, his feature film directorial debut. That film also won the Palme d’Or at the 1989 Cannes Film Festival.
Up next for Soderbergh is the comedy The Christophers, starring Ian McKellen and James Corden. The film is now in preproduction.
Soderbergh’s previous directorial credits include Magic Mike and Magic Mike’s Last Dance, No Sudden Move, Let Them All Talk, The Laundromat, High Flying Bird, Unsane, Logan Lucky, Side Effects, Haywire, Contagion, And Everything Is Going Fine, The Informant!, The Girlfriend Experience, Che, the Ocean’s trilogy, The Good German, Bubble, Equilibrium, Solaris, Full Frontal, The Limey, Out of Sight, Schizopolis, Gray’s Anatomy, The Underneath, King of the Hill and Kafka.
Also a prolific producer, Soderbergh’s film credits in this capacity include documentaries Citizenfour, Naqoyqatsi, Is That Black Enough for You?!?, The Exiles, The King, Roman Polanski: Odd Man Out, Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired and Who Is Bernard Tapie? as well as scripted features Divinity, Bill & Ted Face the Music, The Report, Pu-239, Beats, Ocean’s Eight, Pleasantville, Magic Mike XXL, Wind Chill, Criminal, We Need to Talk About Kevin, Rebecca H. (Return to the Dogs), Keane, Solitary Man, I’m Not There, Far From Heaven, Michael Clayton, Good Night and Good Luck, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, A Scanner Darkly, Rumor Has It…, Syriana, The Jacket, Insomnia, Welcome to Collinwood, Once Within a Time, The Daytrippers and Suture.
For the small screen, Soderbergh helmed the HBO (now Max) series “K Street,” “Mosaic” and “Full Circle” as well as web series “Command Z” and the Cinemax series “The Knick.” In addition, Soderbergh has produced or executive produced the Max unscripted series “Finding Magic Mike,” the Starz series “The Girlfriend Experience” (inspired by his own 2009 film), “Now Apocalypse” and “Leavenworth,” the Netflix limited series “Godless,” Douglas McGrath’s HBO documentary “His Way,” the Amazon series “Red Oaks” and the 2021 Academy Awards ceremony.
DAVID KOEPP (Writer, Executive Producer) has written or co-written the screenplays for more than 30 films, including notable titles such as Apartment Zero, Bad Influence, Death Becomes Her, Carlito’s Way, Jurassic Park, The Paper, Mission: Impossible, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Snake Eyes, Panic Room, Spider-Man, War of the Worlds, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Angels & Demons and Inferno.
Most recently, Koepp penned two other films directed by Steven Soderbergh, thriller Kimi and the haunted house movie Presence. Gareth Edwards’ Jurassic World: Rebirth will be released in July. Also coming this year is the thriller Cold Storage, which Koepp adapted from his debut novel. His second novel, Aurora, was published by HarperCollins in 2022 and his story “Yard Work,” narrated by Kevin Bacon, was released by Audible Originals in 2020.
As a director, Koepp’s feature credits include The Trigger Effect, Stir of Echoes, Secret Window, Ghost Town, Premium Rush and You Should Have Left. Ghost Town and Premium Rush were co-written with the enigmatic John Kamps. Koepp was born in Pewaukee, Wisconsin, and graduated from UCLA’s film school in 1986.
