Warner Bros. Will Distribute Soderbergh's Contagion, Negotiating First-Look Deal With Damon & Affleck

After a fairly short time on the market, Steven Soderbergh's film Contagion, to be shot later this year, has been bought by Warner Bros. The studio was bidding against Summit and other studios to nab the film, which already had a big cast attached (Matt Damon, Kate Winslet, Marion Cotillard, Jude Law and Gwyneth Paltrow) and Participant Media on hand to co-finance the $60m budget.  [Deadline Hollywood]

And Warners seems to like being in the Matt Damon business as the studio is also negotiating with he and Ben Affleck to form a new first-look partnership. Damon and Affleck have had one production company together, LivePlanet, which was housed at Disney and was responsible for Project Greenlight. Seeing the two names together instantly conjures up images of Good Will Hunting, which broke them into mainstream fame, but we don't yet know what they'll work on, or if this deal will produce a film featuring the duo. [Vulture]