William Friedkin’s Final Film to Premiere on the Venice Film Festival

The director William Friedkin died on Monday at age 87, forsaking a filmography that included hits like “The Exorcist” and “The French Connection.”

But Friedkin had additionally accomplished one final challenge, “The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial.” Made for Paramount and Showtime, it’s set to premiere in just a few weeks on the Venice Film Festival, the place in 2013 he gained a lifetime achievement prize.

Adapted from the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Herman Wouk, “The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial” follows the trial of a naval officer (performed by Jake Lacy) who’s accused of main a mutiny in opposition to his unstable commander (Kiefer Sutherland). The story was first tailored for the 1954 movie “The Caine Mutiny,” which was nominated for seven Oscars together with greatest image. Though that movie and Wouk’s novel happen throughout World War II, Friedkin contemporized the story and relocated the motion to the Persian Gulf.

“The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial” is Friedkin’s twentieth narrative movie and his first since 2011’s “Killer Joe,” which starred Matthew McConaughey. In the interim, Friedkin directed a documentary, “The Devil and Father Amorth,” a few purported real-life exorcism.

“I’ve looked at a lot of scripts in the last 10 years, and I haven’t seen anything I really wanted to do,” Friedkin stated in an interview final yr whereas asserting the challenge. “But I think about it a lot, and it occurred to me that could be a very timely and important piece, as well as being great drama. ‘The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial’ is one of the best court-martial dramas ever written.”

The Venice Film Festival runs Aug. 30 to Sept. 9, although organizers haven’t but introduced a premiere date for Friedkin’s movie. Unlike high-profile Venice movies like Bradley Cooper’s “Maestro” and Sofia Coppola’s “Priscilla,” this posthumous effort will play out of competitors, as per Friedkin’s needs: In an expletive-laden scene from the documentary “Friedkin Uncut,” the director ranted in opposition to the thought of competition competitions manned by “a bunch of schmucks who call themselves judges.”