After watching A Star Is Born, Steven Spielberg told Bradley Cooper, who directed Maestro, you are directing this f**king movie.

EXCLUSIVE: The beloved director entrusted Cooper with the reins after being impressed by his directorial debut.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

The road to Maestro, which is finally available on Netflix this week, has been a long one. Martin Scorsese was originally supposed to direct the biographical film about the legendary composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein. Scorsese, however, chose to work on his gangster epic The Irishman and backed aside, leaving the project in the hands of none other than Steven Spielberg. Given that he was working on his version of West Side Story, which incorporates Bernstein's music, it just "made sense," according to Spielberg's producing partner Kristie Macosko Krieger.

The wheels were set in motion when Bradley Cooper was cast in the role of Bernstein, but things began to stop once more when it became evident that Spielberg might not have time to direct the film. Cooper called Spielberg's crew, inviting them to witness an early version of his directorial debut, A Star is Born, because he didn't want to see Maestro press the brakes again.

That showing, as Macosko Krieger tells GR+, altered everything for the Bernstein project: "Bradley said, 'I've made a film called A Star is Born, which is currently in post-production.'" He invited us to see it, and after about 20 minutes, Steven leans over to Bradley and says, 'You're directing this fucking movie.'" 

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Cooper agreed, but Macosko Krieger explains that Cooper wanted to start over: "He didn't want to make a standard biopic - he wanted to go deeper and decided that focusing on the marriage [between Bernstein and Felicia Montealegre] would be the best way to tell this story." He was completely correct, and the film was completely in the right hands."

While both Scorsese and Spielberg were initially attached to helm the film, the Bernsteins feel that Cooper was ultimately the better choice. Nina Leonard, Leonard's daughter, told us that it was "an honor" to work with the director, who kept in constant contact with the family throughout the process. Jamie, her younger sister, says: "He really changed the project when he came on, reinventing it, telling the story as a portrait of a marriage, which appealed to us as it was so much more personal, warm, and human."

From their point of view, everything worked out for the best.

Maestro is presently playing in select theaters ahead of its December 20th Netflix release. More from our conversations can be found here, including the Maestro producer's response to the controversy over Carey Mulligan's casting and an intriguing update on the planned Bullitt revival.

If you're looking for more fantastic Netflix movies, check out our list of the finest Netflix movies you should add to your watch list.