Steven Spielberg spent years quietly pursuing a single franchise, only to face rejection each time he inquired. The director of Disclosure Day has now discussed the repeated refusals. He revealed how one producer’s firm “no” changed the trajectory of his career.
The franchise that Steven Spielberg pursued for years
Spielberg traced his ambition back to the very beginning of his moviegoing experience. He had aspired to create a James Bond film since watching Dr. No, and after Jaws became a box office hit in 1975, he finally felt confident enough to make the call.
His call went directly to Cubby Broccoli, the producer of the Bond series. Spielberg kept his pitch straightforward and clear. “I approached Cubby after Jaws was a big hit,” Spielberg stated on The Rest Is Entertainment podcast. “I’d always wanted to direct a James Bond film from the day I saw Dr. No, so I called Cubby after Jaws and volunteered. I said, ‘If you need a director, I would love to direct one.’ And he said no.”
The rejection was painful, but the story did not end there. A few years later, Broccoli contacted Spielberg with a request of his own. He was developing Moonraker and wanted to use the famous five-note musical phrase from Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Spielberg sensed an opportunity and proposed a deal: the melody in exchange for a directing role. Broccoli accepted the music but left the offer on the table.
“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 recalled. “So they consistently turned me down – at least, Broccoli did. He never explained why he wasn’t allowing me into the Bond family.”
Frustrated, Spielberg confided in George Lucas during a trip to Hawaii in 1977. Lucas outlined the concept for a character named Indiana Smith, an archaeologist with a whip and a fedora. That conversation led to Raiders of the Lost Ark and a franchise that rivaled the very series Spielberg had been denied access to. Decades later, Spielberg’s view on directing a James Bond film today is: “You can’t afford me.”
Disclosure Day is set to be released on June 12.
