Snappy newsletters. Simple Facebook sharing. Spirited comments. Sweet features are waiting… GET THEM NOW!

Hot on Facebook

Uproar After NC State Agent 'Fixes' Girl's Lunch Preschooler has to eat chicken nuggets instead of mom's meal »

More Crime & Courts Stories»

Polanski Finishing Film Behind Bars

Filmmaker puts final touches on The Ghost as he fights extradition

By Rob Quinn, Newser Staff

Posted Oct 14, 2009 3:19 AM CDT

(Newser) – Director Roman Polanski is finishing up what could be his last film from his Swiss prison cell, according to a friend. The filmmaker finished editing The Ghost, which stars Pierce Brosnan as a British prime minister accused of war crimes, the day he was arrested. Polanski, who faces extradition to the US to be sentenced for unlawful intercourse with a 13-year-old, has given instructions on the film score and aims to have the movie ready for its scheduled premiere in February, according to pal Robert Harris.

"He can make his wishes known from his cell. I don’t think he can make phone calls, but he can communicate," Harris told the Times of London. "What people think of the film is another matter. Whether the film can rise above the circumstances in which the director now finds himself, I don’t know. We will test to the upper limits the notion that there’s no such thing as bad publicity.”

[Images (2)]

[Videos (1)]

People walk by protesters rallying against apologists for film director Roman Polanski over the weekend at Lincoln Center in New York. (AP Photo/Stephen Chernin)

Roman Polanski arrives for the premiere of 'Thirteen' at the 29th American Film Festival of Deauville. (Getty Images)

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow

Short trailer for Roman Polanski's film 'The Ghost.' (StevieTrailers)

View larger videos >>

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next »

To report an error on this story, notify our editors.

More Newser Stories

Swiss 'Janitor Satellite' to Clean Space Junk

It will push defunct satellites into the atmosphere to burn up

(NEWSER) - Switzerland is on a mean cleaning bender: The fastidious folks at the Swiss Space Center are building a "janitor satellite" that will grab space junk orbiting the Earth and push it into the atmosphere to burn up, the AP reports. The first of these spacecraft, the $11 million "CleanSpace One," is currently under construction and should launch in three to five years, the scientists announced today. More»

Assange in Last Bid to Dodge Extradition

WikiLeaks founder faces Britain's supreme court

(AP) - Julian Assange took his extradition battle to Britain's Supreme Court today, arguing that sending him to Sweden would violate a fundamental principle of natural law. The two-day hearing is Assange's last chance to persuade British judges to quash efforts to send him to Scandinavia, where he is wanted on sex crimes allegations. The case hinges on a single technical point: whether Sweden's public prosecutor can properly issue a warrant for Assange's arrest. More»

Protesters Occupy Davos —in Igloos

Group set to protest World Economic Forum

(NEWSER) - The Occupy movement has hit Davos ahead of the World Economic Forum, and this time protesters aren't pitching mere tents in the frigid weather. Instead, they're building an igloo village near where the WEF is set to convene, the New York Times reports. The igloos are half as big as a small car and hold two people each; about 50 Occupiers are expected to show. More»

World's Timekeepers: Kill 'Leap Seconds'

Debate rages over fundamental shift

(NEWSER) - Countries across the globe are divided—and it's only a matter of time. Some, including Britain and China, want to retain a special "leap second" occasionally added to the calendar to keep atomic clocks in line with the Earth's rotation. The US, France, Germany, and others, however, want to ditch the second . The matter is up for debate in Geneva today, the BBC reports, and barring an agreement among 200 countries, it could go to a vote. But "this is not a technical issue, it is more a diplomatic one," says an official with the International Telecommunication Union. More»

Special Skier's Underwear Banned at World Cup

It apparently gives athletes an unfair advantage

(NEWSER) - The newest suspicions of cheating in sports come not from the use of performance enhancing drugs but from the wearing of special underwear. Professional skiers who will compete in the upcoming World Cup in Switzerland were bluntly told by officials they cannot don a "full-bodied, plastic-neoprene hybrid sheath" worn under their outer racing uniform, reports the New York Times . The suit might shave off a crucial few hundredths of a second, but the undies are banned. More»

NEWS FROM OUR PARTNERS

What is Newser?

Face it: there's too much news. At Newser, we choose the most thought-provoking and entertaining stories from hundreds of US and international sources and reduce them to a headline, picture, and two paragraphs. And we do it 24/7—you can come back morning, noon, night (and in between) for something new that matters. Read less, know more.

Learn more »

Partnering with: Slate

View Newser on the mobile website

Polanski Finishing Film Behind Bars