‘The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial’: Guillermo del Toro was backup for late William Friedkin
It has been revealed that Guillermo del Toro was the backup director for his friend and industry idol William Friedkin while the late Exorcist director was working on his final movie, The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial.
Friedkin passed away on August 7th in Los Angeles at age 87, and although he managed to wrap up the movie, he wouldn’t live to see its official release. The movie premieres on Sunday, September 10th, at the Venice Film Festival.
Due to Friedkin’s advanced age, he was contractually required to nominate a backup director before beginning production on the feature. “That’s very common; Hollywood is ageist,” stated producer Annabelle Dunne, who disclosed the information which had, until now, been a “state secret”.
Continuing, she recalled that when she raised this issue with Friedkin, he said: “Let me think about that”. Upon calling her back the following day, the director said: “OK, honey, I have the guy. Get a pen: it’s Guillermo del Toro, you got that?”
Dunne then called del Toro, who was then promoting his landmark animation, Pinocchio. Willing to comply, the Mexican filmmaker said: “I am going to come to set every single day and sit next to you.”
“It was a joy for all of us, including the actors, to have his presence there,” Dunne said of the project. “He made it abundantly clear it was Billy’s movie. He said he was our mascot.”
The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial will be released on Paramount+ in the autumn following its premiere and will play on Showtime in the US. The movie will not get a cinematic release.
The movie is based on the 1953 Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Hermon Wouk and stars Kiefer Sutherland in the central role of Commander Queeg.
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