Netflix to restore unfinished Orson Welles film

The streaming service is rescuing the Citizen Kane director’s lost film The Other Side of the Wind

Cinephiles can stop complaining that Netflix keep making Adam Sandler movies and Marvel shows. Yesterday the streaming service announced that it’s getting behind the efforts to salvage The Other Side of the Wind, the unfinished final film from the great director Orson Welles.

The Other Side of the Wind is reportedly a Hollywood satire starring John Huston and centres on a subject very close to Welles’ heart: the struggle of a legendary director trying to make an epic film, also named The Other Side of the Wind.

Welles began production of The Other Side of the Wind way back in 1970 from a screenplay he co-wrote with Oja Kodar. Between '70 and '76 he shot the film-within-a-film, and then toiled until his death in 1985 to get the rest of the picture in the can.

Working alongside Welles on the troubled production was producer Frank Marshall, who has led efforts to complete the film since Welles’ death. “I can’t quite believe it,” said Marshall, “but after 40 years of trying, I am so very grateful for the passion and perseverance from Netflix that has enabled us to, at long last, finally get into the cutting room to finish Orson’s last picture.”

Ted Sarandos, Netflix chief content officer, was enthusiastic about his company helping finance the completion of Welles’ film. “Like so many others who grew up worshipping the craft and vision of Orson Welles, this is a dream come true,” he said. “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. Cinephiles and film enthusiasts around the world will experience the magic of Orson Welles once again or for the very first time.”