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PRODUCTION France

Troubled set for San Antonio

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Following a turbulent start, there've been further changes on the set of San Antonio, starring Gérard Depardieu and Gérard Lanvin.
After suspending filming for 10 days, producers Pathé Renn Productions and Hirsch have now taken back control of the film and replaced the director. Filming started on June 23, 2003, and this latest change has raised a number of questions about the production, especially with regards to the final version of the film.

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The executive producer of San Antonio, Claude Berri has decided to cut costs and has replaced the first director, Laurent Touil-Tartour with Gérard Auburtin, who was co-director with Gérard Depardieu on Un pont entre deux rives. This was a tough decision and the precedents in French film production are few and far between. The move was taken to put an end to a series of problems linked to Touil-Tartour’s inexperience as a director. Although he wrote the screenplay for San Antonio, this was to have been his directorial debut.
Changes were also made to the crew where Willy Stassen replaced Pierre William Glenn as cinematographer.

This whole affair illustrates the tension surrounding this film, and it may very well affect the final outcome of this major production. There were last-minute changes to the choice of actors, following the death of Jean Yanne last May, with Gérard Depardieu also swapping roles at short notice. The theatrical release of San Antonio was due in February 2004, but it now appears to have been put back to a date yet to be announced.

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(Translated from French)

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