The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial: William Friedkin’s final film starring Kiefer Sutherland heads to the Venice Film Festival

Earlier today, the world lost one of Hollywood’s most influential filmmakers, William Friedkin. As condolences and wishes for peace pour in from family, friends, co-workers, and fans, we’d like to remind everyone that Friedkin’s final work, The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial, is heading to this year’s Venice Film Festival.

The annual festival continues despite the ongoing WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, with films by Richard Linklater, Wes Anderson, and Bradley Cooper also hitting the scene. The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial arrives as part of the festival’s non-competition program. Inspired by Herman Wouk’s classic novel The Caine Mutiny, the story takes place during World War II. The tale follows a young man who joins the Navy and ends up on a minesweeper in the Pacific. When the commanding officer shows signs of becoming unhinged, the XO takes command but is later court-martialed for mutiny.

This new version of The Caine Mutiny will give the story a contemporary spin. “The original piece was written for WWII, and Wouk included all the pent-up anger in this country over Pearl Harbor,” Friedkin told Deadline in 2022. “I’ve updated it so that is no longer Pearl Harbor. I’ve made it contemporary, involving the Gulf of Hormuz and the Straits of Hormuz, leading to Iran.” William Friedkin updated the script himself and knew that Kiefer Sutherland was the man to play Lt. Commander Queeg. “I think he is one of the best actors in America, one of the very best,” Friedkin said. “I saw every episode of his show 24. I thought he was just great but that he could do a lot more, and this gives him an opportunity to stretch.”

In addition to Friedkin’s The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial, the Venice Film Festival is hosting Maestro, the Bradley Cooper-directed biopic of Leonard Bernstein, Michael Mann’s race-car drama Ferrari, and David Fincher’s The Killer, a hitman drama starring Michael Fassbender. Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla, Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things, and Ava DuVernay’s Origin also join the Golden Lion competition. Other selections include films by Roman Polanski and Woody Allen.

Are you interested in Friedkin’s final film? Let us know in the comments section below.