Matt Damon: Steven Soderbergh Really Does Plan to Retire from Filmmaking

When someone retires and they still seem to posses the skill they are retiring from, many of us out there wonder--why?

If you could still do what it is you do, why would you stop? Famed Detroit Lion running back Barry Sanders might be the best example of the bunch, having retired with a few years left in the tank, and already considered to be one of the best running backs ever.

Recently I was reading some news that sort of shocked me--director Steven Soderbergh plans to retire after he works on his next couple films.

The reason the news shocked me is because Soderbergh is one of the most talented filmmakers in the industry, and easily one of my favorites. Another reason was that because the man is only 48 years old.

In an interview with the LA Times, actor Matt Damon, who is very close with the director and is currently working with him on the film "Contagion," said that: "He's retiring, he's been talking about it for years and it's getting closer. He wants to paint and he says he’s still young enough to have another career."

According to the article Soderbergh hasn't kept his ideas a secret, having told Esquire a couple years ago that he'd like to retire by the age of 51, which marks his 25th year as a filmmaker.

Damon later offered more specifics: “After this movie we’re doing, ‘Liberace’ next summer with Michael Douglas, and then he might do one more movie after that with George [Clooney], and then after that he’s retiring."

While I wish this were a trick or a prank, Damon seems to be totally serious. And while I'd miss Soderbergh as a filmmaker, the man has every right to decide if and when he wants to stop making movies.

Selfishly, I wish he would reconsider, because if you've enjoyed films since the early '90s, some of them are sure to have been Soderbergh's. In 1989 he splashed onto the scene with the independent film "sex, lies, and videotape" (which is great) and has worked on films such as "Traffic," "Erin Brokovitch," "Che," "Ocean's 11," "The Informant!" and many others.

But I can't hate on the man for pulling a Barry Sanders here--if he wants another career, he has every right to do so. No matter what happens, if he really retires or not (hey, remember when Jay-Z retired…twice?), the man will always be able to look back on his Academy Award-winning work and his impact on independent film and American cinema and be pretty pleased.

Not a bad career to leave behind.