March 15 (UPI) — Netflix has announced plans to finish and release filmmaker Orson Welles’ final film titled The Other Side of the Wind.
The film, which has been in development for 40 years, was left unfinished by Welles upon his death in 1985.
The New York Times reported that after previous attempts to complete the film a production team consisting of Frank Marshall, who was a line producer on the film, Jan Rymsza and Peter Bogdanovich, who acted in it, secured the rights to the 1,083 reels of footage that were stored in a warehouse outside Paris.
Marshall, Rymsza and Bogdanovich turned to crowdfunding site Indiegogo to raise the $2 million needed to complete the project but the team was only able to raise $406,605.
Now Netflix has stepped in to cover the rest of the costs and see the film finally released. “Like so many others who grew up worshipping the craft and vision of Orson Welles, this is a dream come true,” said Netflix chief content officer Ted Sarandos in a statement.
“The promise of being able to bring to the world this unfinished work of Welles with his true artistic intention intact, is a point of pride for me and for Netflix.”
The Other Side of the Wind acts as a critique of avant-garde filmmaking and follows a director Jake Hannaford portrayed by John Huston who is returning from a semi-exile to complete his final film also titled “The Other Side of the Wind.”
Welles has said the film was not semi-autographical when he began production on it in 1970.