‘Presence’ Was Inspired by a Surprising Ghost-Hunting TV Show

Steven Soderbergh is one of Hollywood’s most creative and refreshing directors, with the silver screen staple as the genius mind behind a slew of critically acclaimed hits like Out of Sight, Traffic, the Ocean’s trilogy, and The Informant!, among an endless list of other fan-favorites. Celebrated as a pioneer of modern independent cinema, the gifted filmmaker has been the recipient of many prestigious accolades, like an Academy Award and the Palme d’Or, becoming the youngest solo director to receive the former prize at just 26 years old.

For the 2025 horror film Presence, Soderbergh teamed up with fellow cinema legend David Koepp (Jurassic Park, Mission: Impossible) to craft a unique and thrilling haunted house tale that provides an electrifying twist on the go-to spooky genre, finding inspiration for his latest project from an unlikely source: the 2000s paranormal reality TV show Celebrity Ghost Stories. Ahead of the highly-buzzed about release of Presence, Soderbergh opened up about how the underrated series directly influenced the creation of the horror film and expressed his overwhelming appreciation for the chilling original show.

Presence

Release Date

January 24, 2025

Runtime

85 Minutes

Cast

Lucy Liu
, Chris Sullivan
, Callina Liang
, Eddy Maday
, West Mulholland
, Julia Fox

‘Presence’ Is Steven Soderbergh’s Hair-Raising Horror Hit

Steven Soderbergh is known for crafting riveting films full of inventive storytelling, sleek cinematography, and complex characters, with the revered director being the mastermind behind cinema hits like Out of Sight, Erin Brockovich, and the Ocean’s trilogy. Soderbergh decided to venture into the spine-tingling world of horror with the haunted house thriller Presence, enlisting the talents of a small-but-mighty cast led by Lucy Liu, Julia Fox, and Chris Sullivan and joining forces with Hollywood screenwriter legend David Koepp (Jurassic Park, Spider-Man) to help tell the chilling slow burn tale.

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Presence centers on Chris (Sullivan) and his wife Rebecca (Liu) as they eagerly move into a suburban home with their two children, Tyler and Chloe, only to come to the unsettling realization that they may not be alone in their new residence. Though the premise seems pretty run-of-the-mill and similar to every other haunted house setup, Soderbergh and Koepp decided to employ a fascinating twist by having the film be shown from the perspective of the spirit, expertly flipping the heart-racing genre on its head. With a decorated career spanning over 35 years, Soderbergh’s fans may be surprised to learn he drew inspiration for Presence from a 2000s reality TV show.

‘Celebrity Ghost Stories’ Inspired the Film’s Chilling Premise

Soderbergh looked to a surprising source when coming up with the thought-provoking premise of Presence: the 2009 paranormal reality series Celebrity Ghost Stories. The Academy Award-winning director raved about the spellbinding original show, telling SFX Magazine in 2024, “You’ve got to see it! You can tell people were traumatized by these experiences – they’re not kidding around.” The long-running original premiered in 2009 and featured famous Hollywood figures like Carrie Fisher, Regis Philbin, Mickey Rooney, and Linda Blair sitting down to recount their unexplainable experiences with the supernatural that left a lasting impact.

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Celebrity Ghost Stories ran from 2009 to 2020 over the course of six seasons and 98 episodes, with each entry consisting of multiple celebrities sitting down in an interview and discussing their spooky encounters while a dramatic (and downright creepy) reenactment of the event plays out for viewers. The eerie show will leave audiences anxiously looking over their shoulders as the frightening stories unfold before them. What sets the reality series apart from similar shows is that many of these frightening experiences occurred in broad daylight, an aspect Soderbergh looked to embrace when creating Presence. He told the aforementioned publication:

“What distinguished a lot of those stories was that they often didn’t come with the trappings of a typical ghost experience as we’ve seen in the movies – they were very matter-of-fact. I thought, ‘Okay, that’s interesting.'”

Soderbergh wanted to delve into what it looked and felt like to be in a seemingly haunted house setting but instead doing so from the perspective of the entity itself, thus making the experience for movieogers all the more gripping. Presence is already attracting rave reviews after it made its worldwide premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, garnering appreciation for its unconventional approach to storytelling, clever screenplay, and masterful execution by Soderbergh; the horror film currently holds a stellar 89% Rotten Tomatoes score from critics. Soderbergh was able to wade into new, refreshing territory with Presence, telling SFX Magazine:

“I’m used to being close to the actors as the camera operator, but this was a real dance that I was doing with the cast. It was fun, because I really got to share some of their performance anxiety as we were doing the scene…”

Presence is set to hit theaters on January 24, 2025.