It seemed like a no brainer: Production had wrapped, and considering that there’s a new theater in town named after the guy, Werner Herzog‘s "Queen Of The Desert" looked like it would sail into the Telluride Film Festival. But it looks like the movie won’t make Telluride or the Toronto International Film Festival. We’ll let producer Cassian Elwes explain:
We’ve had technical issues in the finishing of queen and it’s not ready for tiff or telluride. We don’t want to show a work in progress
— cassian elwes (@cassianelwes) August 11, 2014
So, let the speculation begin. Could the film be finished in time to hit the New York Film Festival, which is already boasting world premieres of David Fincher‘s "Gone Girl" and Paul Thomas Anderson‘s "Inherent Vice"? That would be a major coup. Or maybe it’ll show up at AFI Fest? However, the term "work-in-progress" suggests that there is still much left to be done. But you can bet organizers at competing fall festivals will be busy ringing Elwes for status updates anyway.
‘Queen’ features a fantastic ensemble —Nicole Kidman, James Franco, Robert Pattinson, Damian Lewis and many more— in a story about Gertrude Bell, the traveler, writer, archaeologist, explorer, cartographer, and political attaché for the British Empire at the dawn of the twentieth century who played a crucial role in the development of the Middle East. Epic stuff. And Herzog is already hyping Kidman’s performance.
