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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
Andrew Pulver

‘Now they can’t afford me’: Steven Spielberg was turned down to direct Bond – twice

Steven Spielberg, smiling with gray hair, beard, and round glasses, wears a black suit at an event
You only ask twice … Steven Spielberg at the premiere for new film Disclosure Day. Photograph: Eric Acquaye/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock

Steven Spielberg said that he was turned down twice by the producers of the James Bond movies – and now they couldn’t afford him.

Spielberg was speaking to The Rest Is Entertainment podcast and was asked if he had any “regrets” about not directing a 007 movie. Spielberg said that he had approached Albert “Cubby” Broccoli, the legendary Bond producer who worked on every “official” Bond film between Dr No in 1962 and License to Kill in 1989, after Spielberg’s 1975 shark thriller Jaws became a major hit, but was turned down. Spielberg said: “I’d always wanted to make a James Bond film from the day I saw Dr No. So I called Cubby Broccoli after Jaws and I volunteered. I said, if you need a director, I would love to direct one. And he said, no. And he moved on.”

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