Julie Taymor Fighting Studio Over 'Universe' -- May Remove Her Name

by Christopher Campbell Mar 20th 2007 // 12:31PM

Filed under: Animation, Drama, Music & Musicals, Sony, Celebrities and Controversy

I guess it makes sense for a studio to not give final cut privileges to someone like Julie Taymor. Sure, she's got a brilliant mind for visuals, but sometimes the artsy directors are the ones most in need of help in areas like editing. Plus, Taymor is not yet a bankable director, with only two feature films in the bag so far. Still, it is easy to see why she would be upset about the studio cutting her new film, Across the Universe, without telling her. Now Taymor is threatening to remove her name from the film -- as if Alan Smithee could make such a beautiful-looking movie.

The Beatles-inspired musical is being distributed by Revolution Studios, and since the film was originally supposed to be released last fall, studio head Joe Roth was probably getting antsy about completing it already. But anybody who has seen one of Roth's own movies (Freedomland, for instance) would hate to have to give up something for him to finish. I don't really understand why Taymor couldn't at least be involved in the editing process, but I also have no idea how stubborn or difficult she might be about her work. Whether or not she is credited, though, I will still know that she was responsible and I will still be excited to see the film, even if I do think the premise seems a little cheesy. Some of the sequences do look mind-blowing, as you can see from the trailer.

1 Comments

Tags: across the universe, AcrossTheUniverse, alan smithee, AlanSmithee, cinematical, evan rachel wood, EvanRachelWood, film, joe roth, JoeRoth, julie taymor, JulieTaymor, movies, revolution studios, RevolutionStudios, the beatles, TheBeatles

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

3-20-2007 @ 1:29PM

Hal said...

When a film is taken away from its director and re-cut, it is no longer representative of that filmmaker's work. The tone is changed, the pacing, the very storytelling itself. After all, the director is the storyteller. And Julie Taymor has certainly proven herself to be a unique storyteller. If she removes her name from this film and Mr. Roth's version is, ultimately, the one that get's released, be assured that the film you see will not be Ms. Taymor's, but a bastardization of her work. Yes, Mr. Roth has the legal right to do this, but that doesn't change the fact that the film you will see will not reflect Ms. Taymor as a filmmaker. It may contain images that she helped create, but unless they're put together in a way that reflects her storytelling talents, it will not be a Julie Taymor film. And yes, Mr. Roth is a director himself, but not of this film. And with his own work, he has shown us that he is a storyteller with a monotone voice. Perhaps the polar opposite to Ms. Taymor. In the end, it's not just Ms. Taymor who loses, but the audience as well.

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