Peter Weir says stop: The Truman Show director will not make another film

Invited as part of the Festival de la Cinémathèque in Paris, the Australian filmmaker assumes his retired status.

Panama hat on his head, tanned complexion, smile as wide as his impressive filmography, cigarette in one hand, glass of red wine in the other, Peter Weir, 80 years old in August, was until last Sunday on the prowl in Paris in the frame of French Cinematheque Festival (ex All the memory in the world).

The Australian filmmaker generously presented part of his work: his original trilogy (The cars that ate Paris, Picnic at Hanging Rock and The Last Wave), some Hollywood hits (witness, Dead Poets Society, The Truman Show), a curiosity (Second state) and a maritime masterpiece (Master and Commander). Weir's last feature dates from 2011, The paths to freedom. Since then, nothing. Nada. So obviously, after having unfolded its prestigious past, we were concerned about the present.

“I worked on several projects, one in particular which never got off the ground, a bit like a comatose patient that a doctor tries in vain to bring back to life. I carried it until 2020. However, it was an independent film, not a Marvel film that the big Hollywood studios produce on an assembly line. But even in this area, I was no longer up to it. It was a cinema film, not something for TV or platforms… At one point, I decided to drop everything and, like a poker player, leave the table!”

“Russell Crowe and Johnny Depp broke it!“

Four years ago, Ethan Hawke, revealed thanks to Weir in Dead Poets Societyexplained to a journalistIndieWire about the Australian filmmaker: “I think he lost interest in movies. He really enjoyed this work when he didn't have actors giving him a hard time. Russell Crowe and Johnny Depp broke it.“Hawke was surely referring to the Dantesque filming of Master and Commander with Russell Crowe and his unsuccessful project to adapt the novel Shantaram with Johnny Depp.

To the Cinematheque, the person concerned above all explained “no longer have the energy to embark on a feature film” and says he loves his retirement in his house in Sydney. Good for him. Good for us.