Soderbergh Flips ‘Liberace’ For ‘Contagion’ With Matt Damon, Kate Winslet, Jude Law & Marion Cotillard

So just how good is Scott Z. Burns’ “Contagion” script? It’s so good that Steven Soderbergh decided to push everything else aside to fast track it for a fall start. An action-thriller about the outbreak of a deadly virus, from what we’ve heard, Burns’ script is a multi-strand film not unlike the Academy award-winning “Traffic” that Soderbergh helmed in 2000. Our sources tell us the story takes place over four continents and is “terrifying.”

The project has attracted the likes of Matt Damon, Kate Winslet, Jude Law and Marion Cotillard who all have deals closing to star in the film. With the cast in place, Soderbergh and his people are now shopping the project around town with co-financing already in place from Participant Productions. Undoubtedly with a great cast already locked, and with comparisons to “Traffic” and “Bourne” being thrown around, this one will get snapped up quick. For Burns, it continues his run of projects with both Soderbergh and Damon. Having scripted “The Informant!” and co-written, “The Bourne Ultimatum,” he’s clearly delivering the kind of work both of these guys like.

This isn’t the first we’ve heard of the script. Back in September, Burns discussed how he and Soderbergh originally came up with the idea to do a “virus movie” after a sneeze in “The Informant!” triggered a discussion of germs (and evidently metaphors) between the two.

So what about Soderbergh’s long-gestating “Liberace”? No worries there, as it’s simply going to film after “Contagion” in early 2011 with Michael Douglas and Matt Damon still on board. And of course, the endlessly restless director is currently hard at work shooting his martial arts spy flick “Knockout.”

Our source also tells us that Soderbergh switched up this project and “Liberace” because it was more time sensitive; there are a couple other projects out there brewing with the same subject matter in mind and the filmmakers wanted to get out there first.