Michael Douglas Says Steven Soderbergh's 'Liberace' Shoots In May Or June 2011

Despite a rather public battle with throat cancer in the last few months, Michael Douglas appears to be gathering his strength. He's been looking more and more healthy in the past few weeks (just look at him here) and now it seems he's prepping to go back to work. In a new interview, the actor/producer says that Steven Soderbergh's Liberace is happening, and soon. The shoot is planned for May or June of 2011.

Mr. Douglas spoke to the Hollywood Reporter, which reports that when the film shoots in early summer, the actor will have already taken musical training, and will have to wear prosthetics to mimic the appearance of the famed pianist and entertainer Liberace.

He says of his own prep for the role,

I've got a bunch of tapes of performances... I'm thinking; I'm a blank slate. Everything shows me he was a lovely man; I just want to reconfirm that.

Matt Damon, set to play Liberace's lover Scott Thorson and currently shooting Contagion with Mr. Soderbergh, recently told EW,

I've talked to Michael and everything's on schedule for him, which is great. So we've all cleared our schedules and are all really excited about that happening. And then the fall's wide open.

Steven Soderbergh will direct Liberace from a script by Richard LaGravenese based on Scott Thorson's book Behind the Candelabra (My Life With Liberace). While the primary concern here is for the health of Michael Douglas — it is wonderful to see that he is recovering quickly — I'm also quite happy to see that this film will move forward. Should be a pleasant and interesting change of pace for Steven Soderbergh. The director has been on a tear of late, and I'm happy to see such a diverse (Haywire, Contagion, The Informant!, Che, The Girlfriend Experience) set of results in the past couple years.