Steven Spielberg, the legendary director behind classics like Jaws, E.T., and Jurassic Park, once set his sights on the most iconic spy franchise in cinema history. But as he recently revealed, his dream of directing a James Bond film was repeatedly shot down by the franchise's gatekeeper, Albert “Cubby” Broccoli.
In a candid interview on Josh Horowitz’s Happy Sad Confused podcast, Spielberg shared the story of his three failed attempts to helm a 007 movie. The first came hot on the heels of Jaws in 1975, when Spielberg was riding high on the blockbuster success of his shark thriller. He called Broccoli directly, only to be met with a firm refusal. “He just said, 'We have our own stable of directors we go to,' and the success of Jaws didn’t faze him,” Spielberg recalled.
Undeterred, Spielberg tried again after the triumph of Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Once more, Broccoli said no. The third attempt came when Broccoli himself reached out to Spielberg, asking permission to use the iconic five-note motif from John Williams’ Close Encounters score in the upcoming Bond film Moonraker. Spielberg saw an opening and proposed a deal: “I’ll make you a deal, I’ll give you the notes if you let me direct the next Bond film.” Broccoli’s response? “We don’t need the notes that badly.” Despite the rejection, Spielberg graciously allowed the music to be used anyway. The motif appears in Moonraker when Roger Moore’s Bond enters a key lock, creating a playful nod to Spielberg’s sci-fi classic.
It’s almost impossible to imagine a world where Spielberg never got his hands on a Bond film. The director, who recently returned to sci-fi with Disclosure Day starring Emily Blunt, has a knack for blending spectacle with deep human emotion. If he had directed the Bond movie following Moonraker, it would have been For Your Eyes Only. But instead, Spielberg channeled his energy into a different project—one that would become just as legendary.
Around that time, George Lucas pitched Spielberg an idea for a new character: an archaeologist-adventurer with a whip and a fedora. That pitch became Indiana Jones, and the 1981 classic Raiders of the Lost Ark launched a five-film franchise that remains a cornerstone of pop culture. As Spielberg himself has noted, if he had gotten the Bond gig, we might never have met Indy.
While a Spielberg-directed Bond film remains a tantalizing “what if,” the silver lining is clear: his rejection paved the way for one of cinema’s most beloved heroes. And for fans of both franchises, that’s a trade-off that’s hard to regret. For more on Spielberg’s streaming success, check out Steven Spielberg's 'Ready Player One' Scores Streaming Win on HBO Max in June 2026.
In the end, Broccoli’s stubbornness may have inadvertently shaped movie history. Spielberg’s loss was Indiana Jones’ gain—and audiences have been the richer for it ever since.
