Overview
- Spielberg said Wednesday on The Rest Is Entertainment podcast that he approached producer Albert 'Cubby' Broccoli after Jaws and was turned down when he volunteered to direct a James Bond film.
- He recounted that Broccoli later asked to use the five‑note motif from Close Encounters for Moonraker, and Spielberg offered the notes in exchange for a directing slot but was refused and allowed the music to be used anyway.
- Spielberg said Broccoli never explained why he was kept out of the 'Bond family' and that telling the story to George Lucas in 1977 led Lucas to pitch what became Indiana Jones, which launched a major part of Spielberg’s career.
- On the Disclosure Day press tour Spielberg joked he would now decline any Bond offer with the line, “You can’t afford me,” a comment framed as a wry coda to the decades‑old anecdote.
- The remarks are a human‑interest revelation rather than a production update and do not change current Bond plans, which are led by Amazon MGM Studios with Denis Villeneuve attached and an active casting search for the next 007.