In this day and age, it’s hard to imagine anyone ever turning down three-time Oscar winner Steven Spielberg. But the filmmaker revealed that he was previously rejected multiple times after asking to direct a James Bond movie.
During a recent interview on The Rest Is Entertainment podcast, the Disclosure Day director was asked if he regrets not helming a 007 film.
“I have regrets that they didn’t approach me to direct a Bond film,” Spielberg clarified. “I approached Cubby Broccoli [James Bond franchise producer] after Jaws was a big hit. 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 volunteered. I said, ‘If you need a director, I would love to direct one.’ And he said no and he moved on.”
The E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial filmmaker said he pitched himself again a few years later following the release of 1977’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind. At the time, he recalled Broccoli reaching out, asking to use his film’s iconic five-note musical melody in a scene in 1979’s Moonraker.
“I said, ‘I’ll make you a deal. I’ll give you permission to use the five notes if you let me direct a Bond film.’ And he said no. But I gave him the five notes anyway,” Spielberg recounted. “They consistently turned me down. He never explained why he wasn’t letting me into the Bond family.”
