Soderbergh's team is positioning this as a love letter to cinema itself—a sophisticated fusion of film curation and culinary craft that honors the communal magic of watching movies in a theater. The framing emphasizes artistic vision over commerce, suggesting this is about preserving an endangered theatrical experience.
Insiders aren't buying it. Sources close to the project say Singani 63—which Soderbergh has been aggressively marketing for years—needed a major visibility play in European markets. The 'curated film experience' is essentially an elaborate product launch disguised as culture. One industry observer noted: 'He's not running a cinema, he's running a commercial with a projector.'
The series runs exactly 63 days from September 3 through October 30, 2026—the same number as Soderbergh's Singani 63 brand. The programming focuses on films under 90 minutes to accommodate the tasting schedule, according to Variety. Everyman operates over 35 venues across the UK.
Whatever you call it—artistic collaboration or extended commercial—Soderbergh has found a clever way to make his liquor brand feel like prestige programming. Cinephiles get fancy drinks; Soderbergh gets European shelf space. Everyone wins, except maybe those hoping for actual new films from the director.
Steven Soderbergh has always marched to his own beat, but his latest venture raises an interesting question: when does artistic collaboration become sophisticated product placement? The celebrated director—known for everything from 'Traffic' to the sleek 'Ocean's' franchise—has teamed up with British arthouse chain Everyman and his own Singani 63 brand for a 63-day London screening series called, appropriately enough, 'A Man Under the Influence.' The programming kicks off September 3 and runs through October 30, spanning exactly 63 days—a number that mirrors Soderbergh's liquor brand with suspicious precision.
The concept pairs mind-altering films (per Variety's description) with Singani 63 tastings, creating what organizers hope will be an intoxicating evening experience. Everyman, which operates more than 35 venues across the UK, brings its arthouse credibility to the table while Soderbergh brings both his directorial gravitas and his commercial interests in Bolivian brandy. Here's where it gets interesting for those keeping score at home: Singani 63 launched years ago as Soderbergh's passion project, a boutique spirit he genuinely championed.
But passion projects require marketing muscle, and what better way to push bottles than wrapping them in the warm glow of auteur cinema? The series reportedly focuses on films under 90 minutes—a practical choice for accommodating tastings, but also conveniently ensuring every screening feels intimate and curated rather than merely shortened. Soderbergh has been characteristically enthusiastic about combining his two great loves.
'A heady cocktail' is how he's described the blend of cinema and spirits, per reports. Whether that enthusiasm stems from artistic fulfillment or commercial opportunity remains unclear—perhaps both simultaneously. The director has never been shy about monetization strategies; his DIY distribution experiments with films like 'Unsane' proved he thinks differently about industry norms.
The real test will be whether audiences see through the glamour to what this fundamentally is: a marketing event dressed in cinematic appreciation. Soderbergh's defenders will argue he's simply creating unique experiences that happen to feature his product. Critics will counter that the emperor has no clothes—or at least, no original screenplay. Either way, London film fans have 63 days to decide if they want to be 'under the influence' on someone else's terms.
