Steven Soderbergh comments on Logan Lucky writer mystery

When reviews of Steven Soderbergh’s new film Lucky Logan began arriving online earlier this week, the loose and funny screenplay by first-timer Rebecca Blunt was highlighted as one of the heist movie’s biggest strengths. Naturally, there was curiosity about how such a talent could come seemingly out of nowhere.

Well, The Hollywood Reporter looked into the matter and published a report Thursday claiming Blunt “likely doesn’t exist.” The article goes on to suggest a number of possible identities behind the pseudonym, including Soderbergh himself and his wife, former E! personality Jules Asner.

Speaking with EW just as the news broke, Soderbergh said of the report, “Well, that’s going to be news to Rebecca Blunt.”

He added, “When people make a statement like that they should be very careful, especially when it’s a woman screenwriter who is having her first screenplay produced.”

Assuming there is a more to the story of Rebecca Blunt than her being a writer who struck gold right out of the gate, this wouldn’t be the first time a prominent script was written under a pseudonym. Before Stoker became a Nicole Kidman movie directed by Park Chan-wook, it circulated Hollywood as being written by Ted Foulke, the pen name used by Prison Break star Wentworth Miller. Soderbergh himself has used pseudonyms on his own films too, working as a cinematographer under the moniker Peter Andrews and an editor with the name Mary Ann Bernard.

As for Blunt, Soderbergh questioned why reporters were “going after her” for Logan Lucky. “She’s interviewed in the press kit,” he says. “I happen to know that she’s working on something and that she’s on a deadline. She doesn’t want to do any press until after the movie opens. Isn’t she allowed to do that?”

If Blunt does press once Logan Lucky opens, as Soderbergh suggested, we’ll likely hear more about her on or shortly after Aug. 18.