Gist: Ruiz’s widow and editorial collaborator Valeria Sarmiento took over the reins on this project when he unexpectedly died during production. It should still have plenty of the Chilean filmmaker’s flavor, wit, and style, though. Building even further from the scope, ambition, and period setting of Ruiz’s Mysteries of Lisbon, Wellington was to, once again, exist as both a miniseries and an extended feature, and is described as a Napolean-era ‘War and Peace in Portugal’. The cast is as All-Star as the come, packed with the likes of Huppert, Malkovich, Amalric, Deneuve, Lindon, Piccoli, plus dozens more.
Prediction: Okay, so this is a long shot, but if either this or the other film Ruiz put a considerable dent before dying last Summer – that one reportedly titled Night Across the Street – are anywhere near presentable, Fremaux is going to want to pay tribute to the late filmmaker’s legacy and call dibs on his last work. If one of these does show up, it’ll probably be as a non-competing Special Screening.
