Steven Soderbergh has admitted "important" creative differences stopped him directing a 'James Bond' movie.

The 'Ocean's' trilogy filmmaker was once in talks with Eon Productions boss Barbara Broccoli - who oversees the 007 franchise - about being at the helm of a Bond blockbuster.

Asked about the discussions, he told the 'Happy Sad Confused' podcast: "Absolutely, I love that world. We were at odds about some things that were important.

"We had some great conversations. It was fun to think about, but we just couldn’t... the last ten yards were, we just couldn’t do it, we couldn’t figure it out."

However, Soderbergh would instead incorporate some of his 007 ideas into his other films, including 2011 action thriller 'Haywire', which starred Gina Carano as black ops operative Mallory Kane after she gets betrayed by her employers and targeted for assassination.

He added: "Aspects of it have shown up elsewhere. I would say, there are things in 'Haywire', in terms of its approach to the character, and it’s not a big movie, but there’s a little bit of activity in it.

"That’s a hint of the kind of attitude I was looking for."

And despite not getting to work on a Bond film yet, he's still looking forward to watching Daniel Craig's upcoming final turn as the fictional spy in 'No Time To Die', which was delayed until April 2021.

He said: "I hope they're able to figure out the release of the new one."

Meanwhile, Craig recently heaped praise on co-star Rami Malik, who has been cast as the evil Safin.

He explained: "When you’re working with Rami, you just know he is aware of all those things.

"He’s got this big, active brain, so I know he’s pushing all the right buttons… Rami knows me. He understands the weight of what he’s playing.

"He understands he’s playing a Bond villain – what that means, what it means historically and the kind of Bond villains that have come before. Rami’s really good at his job. I mean, that’s an understatement.”