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Los Angeles - Steven Soderbergh claims his upcoming film Behind the Candelabra was rejected from Hollywood for being "too gay".
The Oscar-winning director is set to release his biopic about celebrated pianist Wladziu Valentino Liberace, played by Michael Douglas, and his younger lover Scott Thorson (Matt Damon) later on this year on HBO.
However, Steven has revealed the reason it will air on TV rather than the big screen is because no major company would fund the risqué film - despite the A-list cast and meagre budget.
'It made no sense'
Speaking to TheWrap from the Television Critics Association winter press tour, Steven said: "Nobody would make it. We went to everybody in town. We needed $5 million. Nobody would do it.
"They said it was too gay. Everybody. This was after Brokeback Mountain, by the way. Which is not as funny as this movie. I was stunned. It made no sense to any of us."
Steven - whose thriller Side Effects starring Channing Tatum, Jude Law and Rooney Mara is out in cinemas this year - may not have gained the attention he had hoped for with his Liberace feature, but is pleased it landed a spot on such a popular network.
He added: "[HBO] are great and they're really good at what they do, and ultimately I think more people will see it, and that's all you care about. Studios were going, 'We don't know how to sell it.' They were scared."
The Oscar-winning director is set to release his biopic about celebrated pianist Wladziu Valentino Liberace, played by Michael Douglas, and his younger lover Scott Thorson (Matt Damon) later on this year on HBO.
However, Steven has revealed the reason it will air on TV rather than the big screen is because no major company would fund the risqué film - despite the A-list cast and meagre budget.
'It made no sense'
Speaking to TheWrap from the Television Critics Association winter press tour, Steven said: "Nobody would make it. We went to everybody in town. We needed $5 million. Nobody would do it.
"They said it was too gay. Everybody. This was after Brokeback Mountain, by the way. Which is not as funny as this movie. I was stunned. It made no sense to any of us."
Steven - whose thriller Side Effects starring Channing Tatum, Jude Law and Rooney Mara is out in cinemas this year - may not have gained the attention he had hoped for with his Liberace feature, but is pleased it landed a spot on such a popular network.
He added: "[HBO] are great and they're really good at what they do, and ultimately I think more people will see it, and that's all you care about. Studios were going, 'We don't know how to sell it.' They were scared."
