BY NATASHA BARSOTTI — The director of Traffic and Erin Brockovich says his upcoming film about Liberace was deemed "too gay" by studios and will air instead on HBO, Salon reports.
In interviews with The Wrap and The New York Post, Oscar winner Steven Soderbergh says his attempts to pitch the upcoming biopic Behind the Candelabra, with Michael Douglas as Liberace and Matt Damon as the late entertainer's lover, to Hollywood studios came up empty.
"'Nobody would make it,' Soderbergh says. 'We went to everybody in town. They all said it was too gay.'
'Wait a minute,' we said. Let us get this straight: No studio would budget $5 million for a movie with Damon and Douglas?"
Soderbergh says the studios' reaction left him stunned, especially following the success of Brokeback Mountain, directed by Ang Lee.
Behind the Candelabra is set to air on HBO in the spring.
Landing image: Rotten Tomatoes
