Steven Soderbergh is releasing a surprise sci-fi series starring Michael Cera next week
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Steven Soderbergh is no stranger to experimentation. In 2006, he released Bubble simultaneously on cable and in theaters before that was commonplace. He shot Unsane and High Flying Bird using an iPhone. Now, he's dropping a sci-fi series starring Michael Cera and Roy Wood Jr. on his own website, Extension765.
The mysterious project, which follows his new Max series Full Circle, is called Command Z, and EW can confirm Soderbergh directed the series in addition to producing. He shot the comedy — the name of which is the computer keystroke for undo — "in secret," according to an announcement from his Extension765 website. Command Z will stream via the site on July 17, though EW can confirm it won't be available for free.
"This very morning, our fearful leader explained that in three days (July 17th for those who don't want to do the math) we will be 'dropping' a series of some sort called Command Z," reads a letter on Soderbergh's website, written by a possibly fictional figure named Fabrizia del Dongo. "If I seem hedgy, it's because A) None of us have seen it; and B) It's apparently about ninety minutes long, but there are eight episodes of varying length, so is it an actual series or just a movie cut up into pieces?"
Extension765 The poster for Steven Soderbergh's 'Command Z'
The show, which the trailer says is "from the a** of Steven Soderbergh," is set in the future. Three people are contacted by an Oz-like projection (Cera), who says they are on a mission to make "the future, our present, right now, more liveable, decent, and fair for everyone." To do so, they must return to "America's last inflection point," the year 2023.
From there, it appears the story involves taking psychedelics to travel through a wormhole inside a "high-end dryer" in order to plant themselves as voices inside the brains of people in 2023, including Liev Schreiber.
Per The Playlist, it was written by acclaimed author and Spy magazine co-founder Kurt Andersen. Reps for Andersen did not immediately reply to EW's request for comment.
"When I asked Mr/Dr Soderbergh why he'd done this," del Dongo wrote, "why he'd made this project and why he'd made it in secret, he said, 'Hope, Fabrizia. Hope and laughter.' Honestly, I don't even know where to start with this guy."
You can watch the trailer over at Extension765.
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