“Presence,” a twisty haunted home thriller, marks the second collaboration between Steven Soderbergh and screenwriter David Koepp. The duo, who’re longtime buddies, additionally partnered on 2022’s “Kimi,” which featured Zoë Kravitz as an agoraphobic tech wiz.

However Soderergh and Koepp entered one another’s orbit lengthy earlier than “Kimi” debuted. Koepp wrote the screenplay for the 1992 black comedy “Dying Turns into Her,” a cult favourite that was additionally a pioneer in its use of laptop graphics.

“I wish to preface this by saying I hate it when individuals discuss issues that they handed on,” Soderbergh informed Selection in an interview for a current profile. “For no matter motive, I simply really feel like I’m not satisfied it’s good type to try this.”

However Soderbergh did acknowledge that he was supplied an opportunity to direct “Dying Turns into Her,” which might have occurred shortly after he scored a breakout hit with 1989’s “Intercourse, Lies, and Videotape.”

“I do keep in mind studying it and instantly considering it was very humorous. And likewise instantly recognizing that that is thus far past my functionality,” he stated. “The know-how they had been utilizing was intimidating. There was no universe wherein I may do it. I knew you wanted someone with a Zemeckis-like technical facility to execute it.”

“It was a tough ‘you bought the improper man’ is what it was,” added Soderbergh.

Enter Robert Zemeckis, who had a popularity for making motion pictures like “Who’s Afraid of Roger Rabbit” that pushed the boundaries of film magic. He’d hold advancing the shape with “Forest Gump’s” groundbreaking use of CGI, which allowed Tom Hanks to meets presidents and historic figures, in addition to deploy performance-capture know-how with motion pictures like “The Polar Categorical” and “Beowulf.” “Dying Turns into Her’s” all-star solid included Meryl Streep, Bruce Willis and Goldie Hawn. The movie would gross almost $150 million on a $55 million funds.

Soderbergh finally determined to make smaller motion pictures like “Kafka,” his black-and-white examination of surrealist author Franz Kafka, and “King of the Hill,” a coming-of-age drama. Koepp would write “Jurassic Park,” which got here out in 1993, a yr after “Dying Turns into Her” was launched.

“I actually wished him to direct it, however he felt prefer it was a tricky leap,” Koepp says of Soderbergh. “I’m stealing a line from Steven, however he actually looks like he doesn’t wish to do one thing if it’s not a ‘hell sure.’”

There have been different initiatives that the duo thought of teaming up for, together with a remake of the supernatural horror movie “The Uninvited,” which didn’t come to fruition. “We saved getting hung up on the third act,” Soderbergh stated.

However Soderbergh and Koepp aren’t finished working collectively. The pair simply offered a spy thriller, “Black Bag,” starring Michael Fassbender and Cate Blanchett, to Focus Options. When Soderbergh spoke to Selection, he didn’t reveal his follow-up to “Presence,” however he did supply that he had a challenge he’d found that “is a extremely nice concept that will get me excited.”

“I simply hope I’ve sufficient juice to get it made,” he stated.

“Presence” debuted at Sundance and nabbed a distribution deal from Neon, the indie studio behind “Parasite” and “Triangle of Unhappiness.”