‘Truman Show’ & ‘Dead Poets Society’ Director Peter Weir Retires From Filmmaking After 14-Year Hiatus: “I Have No More Energy”

Following a spectacular filmmaking career that spanned five decades, Australian director Peter Weir has announced that he is retiring. While appearing at the Festival de la Cinémathèque in Paris, France (via Télérama), the filmmaker revealed he has retired from filmmaking after his extended hiatus from the industry that has spanned 14 years. “I am retired,” the 79-year-old Weir said at the French event when asked about his 14-year hiatus from directing films. “Why did I stop cinema? Because, quite simply, I have no more energy.”

READ MORE: ‘Master & Commander’ Prequel In The Works At 20th Century Studios

Weir’s illustrious directing career earned him four Best Director Oscar nominations for his stellar work on “Witness,” “Master & Commander: The Far Side of The World,” “The Truman Show,” and the Robin Williams schoolroom drama “Dead Poets Society.” The filmmaker was eventually given an honorary Oscar in 2023 for contributions to cinema at the 13th Governor Awards. Weir’s last film was 2010’s “The Way Back,” a survival film starring Jim Sturgess, Colin Farrell, Ed Harris, and Saoirse Ronan (we spoke to the director for the film the following year, and you can read that interview here)

While Weir didn’t directly win an Oscar, plenty of his nominated films did. Those wins include Linda Hunt earning the Best Supporting Actress award in 1984 for her performance in “The Year of Living Dangerous,” the Harrison Ford thriller “Witness” won Best Screenplay in 1986, “Dead Poets Society” won another Best Screenplay award in 1990, and “Master & Commander” earned statues for Best Sound Editing and Best Cinematography to Russell Boyd.

Oscar-winner Russell Crowe, the star of “Master & Commander,” had been open to the idea of making sequels with Weir, as there had been plans to adapt the string of Patrick O’Brian novels the high seas thriller was based on, but it never came to pass. In June 2021, it was reported that 20th Century Studios under Disney has been developing a new prequel movie with “A Monster Calls” screenwriter Patrick Ness hired to write it. Ethan Hawke, who starred in “Dead Poet’s Society,” tipped us off early to Weir’s retirement in 2022, claiming that experiences with Johny Depp and Russell Crowe “broke him.”

Watch Weir’s Governors Awards speech below, alongside trailers for his excellent run of films.