Netflix Assembles Oscar-Winning Team to Complete Orson Welles’ Final Film

Nearly 50 years later, Orson Welles’ The Other Side of the Wind is nearing its completion, Variety reported.

The film was shot between 1970-76, but it was never finished. The legendary director and actor, who directed and co-wrote the film, died of a heart attack in 1985.

Back in March, Netflix acquired the movie and announced that it would fund the project in an effort to finally bring the decades-old movie to life. Frank Marshall and Filip Jan Rymsza have been overseeing the restoration process, with the film set to be released on Netflix in 2018.

As Marshall and Jan Rymsza enter post-production, the producers and the entertainment company have brought in some heavy hitters to finish the job. Editor Bob Murawski (Spider-Man, The Hurt Locker), sound director Scott Millan (Apollo 13, Gladiator, Ray, The Bourne Ultimatum), and negative cutter Mo Henry (Jaws, The Dark Knight, Mulholland Drive) have joined the team for the home stretch. Murawski and Millan are Oscar winners, and Henry is regarded as one of the best in the business.

“After all these years, I can’t quite believe we are starting post-production on The Other Side of the Wind,” Marshall told Variety. “Thanks to Netflix, we have been able to assemble an amazingly talented post-production team to take on the exciting and daunting challenge of completing Orson’s last film. It was an extraordinary experience to work with him 40 years ago and it will be an honor to help see his vision finally come together on the screen.”

A satire, The Other Side of the Wind is the story of Jake Hannaford, a 70-year-old director who is attempting — and struggling — to make a comeback in the industry. It stars John Huston, Bob Random, Dennis Hopper, Peter Bogdanovich, and Susan Strasberg. (Huston, Hopper, and Strasberg have since passed away.)

“Orson Welles said, ‘I believe sound is the first human sense, not the eye,’” Millan told Variety. “I could not agree more and am thrilled beyond words to collaborate with Frank, Filip, and Peter with the hope that together we will recapture the seductive rhythms of one of our greatest filmmakers.”

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