Polanski finishing latest film in jail

Roman Polanski may be in a Swiss jail cell for that thing he did, but at least he’s not idle. Robert Harris, who wrote Polanski’s upcoming film The Ghost, says that Polanski is spending his prison time making decisions about the editing and post-production of the film so that it’ll be ready in time for its February premiere. Harris says that while Polanski isn’t allowed to make phone calls, he can still "make his wishes known from his cell." Harris, who is good friends with Polanski and thinks he "was left with little choice but to flee," doesn’t say whether this is the optimal way to edit a movie. As for whether Polanski’s troubles will have a bad effect on the film’s reception, Harris isn’t sure, but he thinks that the premiere of The Ghost at the Berlin Film Festival will be an interesting test case: "We will test to the upper limits the notion that there’s no such thing as bad publicity."

The Times