Filmmaker David Koepp has long been considered one of the top screenwriters in Hollywood with a career that stretches back over 35 years and includes massive blockbusters like Jurassic Park and its sequel, the original Mission: Impossible in 1996 and 2002’s Spider-Man, as well as nine movies, which he also directed. In recent years, Koepp has been writing screenplays for Steven Soderbergh to direct, including 2022’s Kimi, which led to two more collaborations, the horror film Presence, which hit theaters earlier this year, and now, the tense spy-thriller Black Bag.
Black Bag stars Michael Fassbender as George Woodhouse, an agent in the British NCBC (National Cybersecurity Center), who has been informed that someone at the agency is a traitor, including possibly his wife Kathryn (Cate Blanchett), one of the agency’s top field agents. The film also stars Oscar nominee Naomie Harris, Regé-Jean Page (Bridgerton), Tom Burke, Marisa Abela, and Pierce Brosnan as part of the ensemble cast, as the film builds tension with every encounter between the different players in this suspenseful spy thriller.
Besides writing those three films for Soderbergh, Koepp also recently returned to Universal’s ongoing dinosaur franchise by writing the screenplay for this summer’s Jurassic World: Rebirth, his first time in that sandbox since writing the original Jurassic Park for Steven Spielberg to direct in 1993.
Cinema Daily US spoke with Koepp mostly about the inspiration for Black Bag and how that project came together out of research he did for Mission: Impossible back in the ‘90s. He also told us about his decision to return to the Jurassic franchise, which had him going back to the books by Michael Crichton. That anticipated movie won’t be in theaters until early July, but Koepp also wrote a summer event movie for director Steven Spielberg that will hit theaters in the summer of 2026. You can hear about all of those things and more in the video interview above.
Black Bag hits theaters nationwide on Friday, March 14.
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Director: Steven Soderbergh
Screenwriter: David Koepp
Cast: Michael Fassbender, Cate Blanchett, Regé-Jean Page, Tom Burke, Marisa Abela, Naomie Harris, Gustaf Skarsgård, Pierce Brosnan
Producer: Casey Silver, Gregory Jacobs, AJ Riach, Corey Bayes
Production Co: Casey Silver
Distributor: Focus Features
Rating: PG-13 (Violence|Some Sexuality|Language)
Genre: Thriller
Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): March 14, 2025
Runtime: 1 hour, 33 minutes
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You can watch the trailer below: