Why Steven Spielberg Almost Didn’t Direct Catch Me If You Can

There are plenty of contenders for the best Steven Spielberg movie, but “Catch Me If You Can” has always been my favorite. Maybe it’s because of the lovely John Williams score, which was so memorable “The Simpsons” had to pause a regular episode to do an extended riff on it. Then again, maybe it’s because I just love any story about a guy who can work his way through an impossible situation through sheer confidence and charisma. The movie also felt like a perfect fit for Spielberg, as Frank Abagnale’s life story mirrored parts of his own. As Spielberg explained in a 2003 interview with Blackfilm.com:

“Some of this picture is important to me because it deals with what Frank and I both share, which is broken homes. I ran away from home when my parents got divorced; at the same age Frank ran away when his parents got divorced, so I had that in common with him. That’s why I wanted to emphasize in the picture to always remind people that he was doing this for a reason — not just because he could. He was doing this because he was perhaps trying to get his mom and dad back together again.”

Despite that connection, Spielberg almost didn’t direct the movie at all. The guy was very busy in the early 2000s, with “Minority Report” releasing just six months before “Catch Me If You Can” and “A.I. Artificial Intelligence” coming out only a year before that. Indeed, the movie came decidedly close to going to another respected director who had slightly less on their docket at the time, like Gore Verbinski (then on the verge of helming 2003’s “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl”) or David Fincher (who’d go on to do 2002’s “Panic Room” instead).

In fact, if it wasn’t for a couple of key events that happened in 2000, there’s a chance that “Catch Me if You Can” would’ve not only been a Verbinski film, but it would’ve also starred James Gandolfini (yes, of “The Sopranos” fame) as FBI agent Carl Hanratty rather than Tom Hanks. These plans fell apart because the film that DiCaprio was working on in 2000, “Gangs of New York,” was running behind schedule. This typically wouldn’t be that big of a deal, except that there was an apparent actors’ and writers’ strike on the horizon, and Verbinski wanted to film “Catch Me If You Can” before that happened. As Variety reported at the time:

“Insiders say that postponing ‘Catch Me’ may eliminate ‘Catch’s’ helmer, Gore Verbinski (‘Mouse Hunt’), who is eager to make a picture before the strikes. Lingering longer for Leo would also nix the availability of several other actors with whom the studio has been in talks, such as ‘Sopranos’ star James Gandolfini, who can only shoot on hiatus.”

Ultimately, the big thing that pushed Spielberg to commit to directing “Catch Me If You Can” was the realization he had while reading a particularly impressive sequence from the real Frank Abagnale Jr.’s fascinatingly true (and not so true) version of the story “Getting out of the Miami International Airport with a 120 FBI agents scouring that one venue — that was the straw that broke the camel’s back,” Spielberg said. “And when I read that I said, ‘Aw. Man if that’s true, I gotta make this picture.'”

The rest was history; “Catch Me If You Can” ended up being a very Spielbergian film, complete with thought-out long takes, reflection shots, and a sweeping John Williams score. It’s hard to complain about the job he did either, just as it’s hard to complain about Hanks’ performance as the older cat to DiCaprio’s young mouse. Still, it’s hard not to wonder what could’ve been.

I would’ve loved to see Gandolfini’s version of Carl Hanratty, for instance, and although I’m glad Verbinski shifted focus to the “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise, I still think he could’ve done a fine job directing this movie. Based on his handling of the Jack Sparrow character in the “Pirates” films, we know Verbinski is very good when it comes to depicting charismatic con-men characters and encouraging the audience to root for a professional liar even though we know we probably shouldn’t. (Arguably, Jack Sparrow is basically just a grown-up Frank Abagnale Jr. on a boat.) Things worked out for the best with Spielberg taking on “Catch Me If You Can,” but it’s not like the alternatives didn’t have potential either.