Steven Soderbergh’s Seen/Read list includes Star Wars rewatches, a swim with Jaws, & research for a long-gestating project

While some filmmakers choose to disengage from the industry when they’re not behind the camera, letting most cinematic experiences pass them by, Steven Soderbergh loves to fill whatever free time he’s afforded by exploring a wealth of books, movies, TV series, and other forms of media to help inform and inspire his creative output for the coming year. Thankfully, rather than keep his list a secret, Soderbergh is here to share his annual Seen, Read compendium, providing fans and industry lurkers with a behind-the-scenes snapshot of his entertainment habits throughout the year.

Soderbergh feels the Force

Studying the list, we find the Academy Award-winning filmmaker traveling to a galaxy far, far away with several Star Wars titles, presumably to help the director gear up for the scrapped The Hunt for Ben Solo project he was going to shoot with Adam Driver, as written by Contagion writer Scott Z. Burns. Alas, the Ben Solo project is no longer in development. Still, at least Soderbergh felt the power of the Force during February, with revisits of The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi, and The Rise of Skywalker.

Soderbergh is gonna need a bigger boat

Continuing down the list, Soderbergh got back in the water with Steven Spielberg’s Jaws. Spielberg’s 1975 masterpiece is a frequent rewatch for Soderbergh, as the film appears to be not just a favorite, but a film that orients his focus, a North Star in a sky littered with glittering cinematic gems.

If you look closely, you’ll also see a listing for something called Production 02074, which, according to Soderbergh’s own email from his Extensions 765 website, is the Jaws project he’s been working on. Is it a new film? A documentary? Not quite. According to The Playlist, Production 02074 is the book Soderbergh’s been working on for several years.

Steven Soderbergh’s Seen, Read 2025 list reveal

Here’s Soderbergh’s complete Seen, Read 2025 list below with the legend attached:

All caps, bold: MOVIE

All caps, bold, asterisk: SHORT*

All caps: TV SERIES

Italics: Book

Quotation marks: “Play”

Italics, quotation marks: “Short Story”

SEEN, READ 2025

01/01 The Possession, Annie Ernaux, AVIICI I’M TIM

01/02 The Making of Star Wars, A.J. Rinzler, THE MAKING OF THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK (B&W)

01/03 THE AGENCY, 2025 WORLD DARTS CHAMPIONSHIP

01/04 HARD TRUTHS

01/05 THE GODFATHER

01/06 Stranger Than Fiction: Lives of the Twentieth Century Novel, Edwin Frank

01/08 SKELETON CREW (5), Artemisia Gentileschi, Jonathan Jones

01/10 Ready When You Are, Mr. Coppola, Mr. Spielberg, Mr. Crowe, Jerry Ziesmer, BFI Modern Classics: JAWS, Antonia Quirke, A DIFFERENT MAN

01/11 SKELETON CREW (2), THE AGENCY, SOUNDTRACK TO A COUP D’ETAT

01/12 Playworld, Adam Ross, BFI Film Classics: THE SERVANT, Amy Sargeant

01/14 THE SERVANT

01/15 DUEL

01/17 BFI Modern Classics: CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND, Dana Polan

01/20 Confessions of a Rock and Roll Name-Dropper, Laurie Kaye, THE GREATEST NIGHT IN POP, SKELETON CREW

01/21 At Mrs. Lippincote’s, Elizabeth Taylor, THE AGENCY

01/22 BFI Film Classics: LAST YEAR AT MARIENBAD, Jean-Louis Leutrat

01/24 LAST YEAR AT MARIENBAD, THE AGENCY

01/25 AUSTRALIA OPEN WOMEN’S FINAL, THE STING, THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, THE HAUNTING (‘ 63)

01/26 AUSTRALIA OPEN MEN’S FINAL, Conversations with Peter Brook, Margaret Croyden

01/28 Bresson on Bresson: Interviews 1943-1983

01/29 PASSAGE TO MARSEILLE

02/01I’M STILL HERE

02/07 Begin principal photography on THE CHRISTOPHERS

02/09 STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS

02/10 STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI

02/15 STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER

02/20 Caucasia, Danzy Senna

02/21 THE INTERNECINE PROJECT

03/01 The Talent, Daniel D’Addario

03/02 THE WHITE LOTUS (2)

03/12 THE WHITE LOTUS

03/13 THE CHRISTOPHERS

03/14 THE WHITE LOTUS, The Transformation of Philip Jettan, Georgette Heyer

03/15 Universality, Natasha Brown

03/18 THE WHITE LOTUS, The Dream Hotel, Laila Lalami

03/22 Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe, CLEANER, A BODY IN THE SNOW: THE TRIAL OF KAREN READ (2)

03/23 A BODY IN THE SNOW: THE TRIAL OF KAREN READ (3), LEAVING NEVERLAND II

03/24 THE WHITE LOTUS, SCAMS & SCANDALS: THE GOLDEN TOILET HEIST

03/25 Changing My Mind, Julian Barnes

03/26 CON MUM

03/29 GOLD & GREED: THE HUNT FOR FENN’S TREASURE (3), Lucky Night, Eliza Kennedy

03/30 ONE TO ONE: JOHN & YOKO

03/31 The Reluctant Widow, Georgette Heyer

04/03 Sister Europe, Nell Zink, ALL THE PRESIDENT’S MEN

04/04 “The Seagull” Anton Chekov

04/05 BLADE RUNNER 2049

04/07 THE WHITE LOTUS

04/08 Audition, Katie Kitamura, THE SOCIAL NETWORK

04/09 SE7EN, THE CHRISTOPHERS

04/10 BLACK MIRROR (2)

04/11 BLACK MIRROR (3)

04/13 Ultramarine, Mariette Navarro

04/15 The Premonitions Bureau, Sam Knight

04/17 HACKS (2), BLACK MIRROR

04/18 The Nonesuch, Georgette Heyer, BLACK MIRROR

04/19 HACKS, BECOMING LED ZEPPELIN

04/20PANIC ROOM

04/21 Private Citizen, Tony Tulathimutte, CAST A DARK SHADOW

04/23 ANDOR (3)

04/24 CARLOS ALCARAZ: MY WAY (3)

04/25 HACKS

04/27 AHOY!*

04/28 Dream Count, Chimimanda Ngozi Adichie, HEAVY SPOILERS: JAWS

05/01 THE SUGARLAND EXPRESS

05/03 Searching for Novak, Mark Hodgkinson, HACKS, MADRID OPEN WOMEN’S FINAL, ANDOR (3)

05/04 RYAN’S DAUGHTER, MADRID OPEN MEN’S FINAL

05/05 BILL BURR: DROP DEAD YEARS

05/06 Cellar Rat, Hannah Selinger

05/07 ANDOR

05/08 ANDOR (2)

05/09 HACKS, A DEADLY AMERICAN MARRIAGE

05/10 JAWS

05/11 THE CHRISTOPHERS

05/13 4 KIDS WALK INTO A BANK, Great Big Beautiful Life, Emily Henry

05/16 ANDOR (3), Service, John Tottenham

05/17 ANDOR (3), ITALIAN OPEN WOMEN’S FINAL, HACKS, CURE

05/18 The Siege, Ben MacIntyre, ITALIAN OPEN MEN’S FINAL

05/20 Straight From the Horse’s Mouth, Ronald Neame, THE HORSE’S MOUTH

05/21 Telephone, Percival Everett

05/23 JAWS @ 50: THE DEFINITIVE INSIDE STORY, THE MAN WHO NEVER WAS

05/24 HACKS, LD+R: “Can’t Stop”

05/26 I Am Not Sidney Poitier, Percival Everett, THE REHEARSAL (6)

05/28 FRED & ROSE WEST: A BRITISH HORROR STORY (2)

05/30 FRED & ROSE WEST: A BRITISH HORROR STORY

06/01 COLD CASE: THE TYLENOL MURDERS (3), MOUNTAINHEAD, HACKS

06/02 The Doorman, Chris Pavone

06/04 Two Nights in Lisbon, Chris Pavone

06/05 The Tell, Amy Griffin, SINNERS

06/07 FRENCH OPEN WOMEN’S FINAL, BRIGHTON ROCK (‘ 48), MIKE BIRBIGLIA: THE GOOD LIFE

06/08 Parallel Lines, Edward St. Aubyn, FRENCH OPEN MEN’S FINAL

06/09 Montaigne, Stefan Zweig

06/11 “Good Night, and Good Luck” George Clooney and Grant Heslov

06/12 So Much Blue, Percival Everett

06/13 THE MORTICIAN (2)

06/14 SHIFTY (4)

06/15 SHIFTY, QUEENS TENNIS WOMEN’S FINAL, POLK: THE TRIAL OF PHILIP POLKINGHAM (2)

06/17 BLUE ROAD: THE EDNA O’BRIEN STORY, RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK (B&W)

06/18 So Far Gone, Jess Walter

06/20 Robert Shaw, Christopher Shaw Myers, JAWS

06/21 COCAINE AIR: SMUGGLERS AT 30 THOUSAND FEET (3)

06/22 Been Wrong So Long It Feels Like Right, Walter Mosley, IN THE ARENA: SERENA WILLIAMS (4)

06/23 IN THE ARENA: SERENA WILLIAMS (4)

06/27 ALTERED STATES

06/28 BAD HOMBURG FINAL, EASTBOURNE MEN’S FINAL, Building Champions, Molly McElwee

06/30 WIMBLEDON

07/01 WIMBLEDON

07/02 WIMBLEDON

07/03 THE THREE MUSKETEERS (‘ 73), WIMBLEDON

07/04 WIMBLEDON

07/05 Finished draft of THE SOT-WEED FACTOR, WIMBLEDON, MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS (‘ 74)

07/06 TOM JONES, WIMBLEDON, TRAINWRECK: THE CULT OF AMERICAN APPAREL, 48 HRS

07/07 WIMBLEDON, JOSEPH ANDREWS

07/08 WIMBELDON, TRAINWRECK: THE REAL PROJECT X

07/09 WIMBLEDON

07/10 WIMBLEDON, THE FOUR MUSKETEERS (‘ 74)

07/12 FACES OF DEATH (‘ 25), 48 HRS (3), WIMBLEDON WOMEN’S FINAL

07/13 WIMBLEDON MEN’S FINAL

07/14 The Luminaries, Eleanor Catton

07/15 Bring the House Down, Charlotte Runcie, Vera, or Faith, Gary Shteyngart

07/16 The Man Who Would Be King, Karen Elliot House

07/18 Death of the Author, Nnedi Okorafor

07/19 TRAINWRECK: BALLOON BOY, AMY BRADLEY IS MISSING (2)

07/20 48 HRS, AMY BRADLEY IS MISSING, A HARD DAY’S NIGHT

07/22 Fox, Joyce Carol Oates, “The Silence” Zadie Smith

07/23 TRAINWRECK: P.I. MOMS

07/24 JOHN LENNON: THE LAST INTERVIEW

07/26 MATERIALISTS, Fresh, Green Life, Sebastian Castillo

07/29 THE NAZI CARTEL, TRAINWRECK: STORM AREA 51

07/30 28 YEARS LATER

08/02 The Making of ON HER MAJESTY’S SECRET SERVICE, Charles Helfenstein, ON HER MAJESTY’S SECRET SERVICE, CARNAL KNOWLEDGE

08/04 THE NAZI CARTEL (2)

08/05 BARRY LYNDON

08/06 Flashes of Brilliance, Anika Burgess, Tart, Slutty Cheff, THE NAZI CARTEL

08/07 JURASSIC WORLD: REBIRTH, finished draft of THE OTHER HAMILTON

08/08 STOLEN: THE HEIST OF THE CENTURY

08/09 THE NAKED GUN, HITLER’S SECRET ISLAND, MILLIONAIRE MURDER

08/11 Moderation, Elaine Castillo

08/12 Ready for My Close-up, David M. Lubin

08/13 GOOD FORTUNE

08/14 The Short Plays of Harold Pinter

08/17 The Ending Writes Itself, Evelyn Clarke, JOHN LENNON: THE LAST INTERVIEW

08/18 Vulture, Phoebe Greenwood

08/19 The Woman Who Killed the Fish, Clarice Lispector, I LOVE BOOSTERS, MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE—THE FINAL RECKONING

08/20 FINAL DRAFT (5)

08/21 FINAL DRAFT (3)

08/22 THE GREAT LOCOMOTIVE CHASE

08/23 THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER

08/24 FINDING MR. FOX, HAPPY GILMORE 2, US OPEN

08/25 US OPEN

08/26 How Things Are Made, Tim Minshall, US OPEN

08/27 THE GREAT ART FRAUD (2), US OPEN

08/28 THE THURSDAY MURDER CLUB, US OPEN

08/29 US OPEN

08/30 SUNSET BOULEVARD, US OPEN

08/31 US OPEN

09/01 THE PHANTOM OF LIBERTY, US OPEN

09/02 THE EXTERMINATING ANGEL, US OPEN

09/03 THE DISCREET CHARM OF THE BOURGEOISIE, US OPEN

09/04 THE COMEBACK: THE 2004 BOSTON RED SOX (3), US OPEN

09/05 My Last Sigh, Luis Buñuel, US OPEN

09/07 US OPEN MEN’S FINAL

09/08 John Williams, Tim Grieving, BELLE DU JOUR

09/09 PERFORMANCE

09/10 THE MYSTERY OF PICASSO, WEAPONS, JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT: THE RADIANT CHILD

09/12 Finished draft of BLOODWORTH MANOR

09/13 Helen of Nowhere, Makenna Goodman, Byways, Roger A Deakins

09/14 The Shame, Makenna Goodman, BEAUTY AND THE BESTER (3)

09/18 Skepticism and Dissent: Selected Writings of Ambrose Bierce, Lawrence L. Berkove

09/20 The Spanish-American War: 1895-1902, Joseph Smith, CAUGHT STEALING

09/22 The Little War of Private Post, Charles Johnson Post

09/23 The Last Kings of Hollywood, Paul Fischer

09/25 CHANDRA LEVY: AN AMERICAN MURDER MYSTERY (3)

09/26 ONCE UPON A TIME IN HARLEM, MISTRESS DISPELLER, THREE DAYS OF THE CONDOR

09/27 ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER, BEWITCHED, HOW IT’S MADE

09/29 THE BAD AND THE BEAUTIFUL, DEATH IN APARTMENT 603, HOW IT’S MADE (4)

09/30 HOW IT’S MADE (3), HELL DRIVERS

10/02 THE ASPHALT JUNGLE

10/03 CON AIR

10/04 THE ESSEX MURDERS: WHO KILLED GOLDFINGER? (2)

10/05 THE ESSEX MURDERS: WHO KILLED GOLDFINGER?

10/07 COCAINE QUARTERBACK (3)

10/08 Without Reservation, Jeremy King, finished draft of ASCENSO

10/09 Epigrams, Ambrose Bierce

10/10 THE WOMAN IN CABIN 10

10/11 Pick a Color, Souvankhan Thammavongsa

10/12 Yossarian Slept Here, Erica Heller, WORLD GRAND PRIX DARTS FINAL

10/14 An Impossible Fortune, Richard Osman

10/15 TURN OF THE TIDE: THE SURREAL STORY OF RABO DE PEIXE, THE PERFECT NEIGHBOR

10/18 I’m Not Trying to Be Difficult, Drew Nierporent, THE CHAIR COMPANY

10/19 The Hour of the Predator, Guiliano de Empoli, THE BIG CONN (3)

10/20 THE BIG CONN, HAPPY HOURS, CLASSIC MOVIES: THE STORY OF THE IPCRESS FILE, THE CHAIR COMPANY

10/21 BARBARIAN

10/22 Tribal, Michael Morris, CLASSIC MOVIES: THE STORY OF THE LADYKILLERS, CLASSIC MOVIES: THE STORY OF BRIGHTON ROCK, MICHELLE WOLF: THE WELL

10/24 Ingram, Louis C.K.

10/25 RELAY, THE AGE OF DISCLOSURE

10/26 DATELINE, VIENNA OPEN FINAL, JAWS, CLASSIC MOVIES: THE STORY OF THE GRADUATE

10/27 THE CHAIR COMPANY

10/28 CLASSIC MOVIES: THE STORY OF KIND HEARTS AND CORONETS, CLASSIC MOVIES: THE STORY OF THE DAM BUSTERS

10/29 CLASSIC MOVIES: THE STORY OF BILLY LIAR

10/31 Gordon Willis on Cinematography, Stephen Pizzello, PARIS MASTERS QFs

11/01 PARIS MASTERS SFs, PORK CHOP HILL

11/02 PARIS MASTERS FINAL

11/03 Discontent, Beatriz Serrano, ATP FINALS, THREE DAYS OF THE CONDOR, THE CHAIR COMPANY, “The Heroine” Patricia Highsmith

11/04 ORWELL: 2+2+5, WTA FINALS

11/05 WTA FINALS

11/06 WTA FINALS, DATELINE

11/07 WTA FINALS, PLURIBUS (2)

11/10 How to Lose a Country, Ece Temelkuran, THE CHAIR COMPANY

11/11 FRANKENSTEIN (‘ 25), THE SMASHING MACHINE

11/12 ATP FINALS, The Silver Book, Olivia Laing

11/14 PLURIBUS, ATP FINALS, COVER-UP

11/15 ATP FINALS, NOUVELLE VAGUE

11/16 Finished draft of Production 02074, ATP FINALS

11/17 Reflections on Cinematography, Roger Deakins, THE CHAIR COMPANY

11/18 FROM DARKNESS TO LIGHT

11/19 THE CARMAN FAMILY DEATHS

11/21 One Day, Everyone Will Have Been Against This, Omar El Akkad

11/22 PLURIBUS

11/24 AFTER THE HUNT, IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT

11/25 JAY KELLY

11/26 Anything Considered, Peter Mayle, CLASSIC MOVIES: THE STORY OF THE THIRD MAN, PLURIBUS, KEVIN HART: ACTING MY AGE, DATELINE

11/27 THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN MORTICIAN MURDER (3), Margo’s Got Money Troubles, Rufi Thorpe

11/29 THE BALTIMORONS

12/01 THE SIX BILLION DOLLAR MAN, THE CHAIR COMPANY

12/03 PATHS OF GLORY

12/04 THE SECRET AGENT

12/05 PLURIBUS, PREDATOR BADLANDS

12/09 BUGONIA

12/10 Sweet Heat, Bolu Babalola, Hot Air, Marcy Dermansky

12/11 The Red Car, Marci Dermansky, SENTIMENTAL VALUE

12/12 WAKE UP DEAD MAN

12/13 Hitchcock and Herrmann, Steven C. Smith, THE TROUBLE WITH HARRY, PLURIBUS

12/14 THE WRONG MAN

12/15 IS THIS THING ON?

12/16 DEATH CAP: THE MUSHROOM MURDERS (3), DUEL

12/17 MURDER IN MONACO, THE SALT PATH SCANDAL

12/18 Anna Lapwood at Royal Albert Hall

12/19 PLURIBUS, DEAD MAN’S WIRE

12/20 HAMNET, DAVE CHAPPELLE: THE UNSTOPPABLE N****R

12/21 WARFARE, CITIZEN KANE, THE HEROES OF TELEMARK

12/22 CHINATOWN

12/23 Lorem Ipsum, Oli Hazzard

12/24 PLURIBUS, TOM SEGURA: TEACHER, REAR WINDOW (‘ 54), ANTHONY JESELNIK: BONES AND ALL

12/25 STALAG 17, ZODIAC, SIRAT

12/26 Bad Marie, Marcy Dermansky, “The Mousetrap” Agatha Christie

12/27 THE ANDROMEDA STRAIN (‘ 71), THE MASTERMIND, THE THING (‘ 82), THE THICK OF IT (2)

12/28 ALL ABOUT EVE, Very Nice, Marcy Dermansky, THE THICK OF IT (2)

12/29 MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION (‘ 56)

12/30 Twins, Marcy Dermansky, JOHN LENNON: THE LAST INTERVIEW

12/31 “End” David Eldridge, THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE