An AI Pitches Steven Soderbergh a 'Contagion' Sequel in This New Audible Original [Exclusive]

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, Steven Soderbergh‘s 2012 thriller Contagion found a second life. Now, screenwriter Scott Z. Burns is exploring a return to the film with a technological twist: he’s having an artificial intelligence come up with a sequel pitch. Burns’ process will be chronicled in a new Audible podcast, What Could Go Wrong? In a new, Collider-exclusive sneak peek, Burns’ AI pitches its sequel idea to Soderbergh himself.

In the clip, Burns has already had the chatbot (the British-accented Lexter) pitch him an idea for the Contagion sequel, which involves the distressing amounts of microplastics now found in the human body. Now, he presents it to Soderbergh, who he also worked with on The Informant!, Side Effects, and The Laundromat. The veteran director is intrigued, asking follow-up questions to the AI for further details. In addition to Soderbergh, What Could Go Wrong? will also feature interviews with actors Laurence Fishburne and Jennifer Ehle; writers Nick Bilton, Matt Belloni, and Sarah Nolen; musicians Cliff Martinez and Broken Social Scene‘s Ted Hope and Kevin Drew; tech and AI experts Joanne Jeng and Meredith Whittaker; epidemiologists Dr. Larry Brilliant, Dr. Ian Lipkin, Dr. Michael Osterholm, and Dr. Shanna Swan; and science journalist Laurie Garrett. Will Burns come up with a workable sequel idea? Will the AI demand final script approval and points on the gross? You’ll have to tune in to What Could Go Wrong?, exclusively on Audible, to find out.

What Is ‘Contagion’ About?

In this globe-trotting thriller, Matt Damon plays Mitch Emhoff, a man who’s confronted with a shocking tragedy when his otherwise healthy wife (Gwyneth Paltrow) sickens and dies in a matter of days after a business trip. That tragedy soon goes worldwide, as the disease she contracted becomes a global pandemic, killing millions. While scientists (played by Fishburne, Ehle, Kate Winslet, and Marion Cotillard) try to stem the tide of the plague, a conspiracy theorist (Jude Law) spreads misinformation, leading to further misery. The film proved to be eerily prescient in many ways, and rocketed up the streaming charts as the world experienced a real pandemic in 2020.

Burns is a veteran screenwriter and filmmaker, and has directed two films: the drama Pu-238 and the political thriller The Report. He recently served as executive producer on Dune: Prophecy, and is next set to write the script for Luca Guadagnino‘s remake of American Psycho.

What Could Go Wrong? arives today, June 11, exclusively on Audible. Stay tuned to Collider for future updates and in the meantime, listen to the sneak peek above.