Pedro Almodovar Almost Directed 'Brokeback Mountain', But Passed Due To This Controversial Reason
The Spanish auteur felt like the perfect candidate to direct the 2005 'Brokeback Mountain', but turned down the offer for fear that Hollywood wouldn't let him make the film the way he wanted.
The Spanish director became world famous after winning the Oscar in Best Foreign Language Film category in 1999 for his arthouse drama 'All About My Mother', and in 2002 he won another Oscar, this time in Best Original Screenplay category, for 'Talk to Her'. Now it's no surprise that Hollywood has decided to keep an eye on the Spanish wonder, offering him a chance to direct an upcoming cowboy drama based on the Annie Proulx short story. To everyone's surprise, Almodovar declined the offer. And here's why.
According to the director himself, he was afraid to debut in English filmmaking because of Hollywood's strict rules. He envisioned 'Brokeback Mountain' as a very sexual picture, containing some very graphic lovemaking scenes. Almodovar was afraid that Hollywood wouldn't let him do it, saying it would be much easier to make this film in Europe.
"The way I understood the sex between the characters was almost like this animalistic lovemaking. I would have added a lot of sex scenes & I don't think they would have truly let me," Almodovar said.
After Almodovar's rejection, the producers hired Ang Lee to take his place, resulting in a film starring Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal that has become a cult classic among film fans from around the world. But one can only wonder what the film would have looked like in the hands of the Spanish maestro.