Netflix has released the first trailer for the upcoming Orson Welles documentary They’ll Love Me When I’m Dead. The doc coincides with the release of Welles’ unfinished final film The Other Side of the Wind, which was completed with the help of Netflix and hits the streaming service on November 2nd. Launching that same day is They’ll Love Me When I’m Dead, which tells the story of the final 15 years of the iconic filmmaker’s life, focusing specifically on the development and creation of The Other Side of the Wind, which was intended to be Welles’ comeback. Unfortunately, he died before completing the picture.
Pairing this documentary with the film itself is a pretty brilliant idea, and indeed Netflix has become something of a haven for documentaries as the genre is experiencing a comeback of sorts. Just this year, Won’t You Be My Neighbor? and RBG scored relatively huge box office receipts, and Netflix is now playing host to a variety of docs that maybe wouldn’t have the best chance running in theaters.
They’ll Love Me When I’m Dead hails from filmmaker Morgan Neville, who won the Oscar for his documentary 20 Feet from Stardom and who also directed Won’t You Be My Neighbor? Yes indeed, Neville will have two documentaries released this year.
Check out the They’ll Love Me When I’m Dead trailer below. The doc will have a special presentation at the New York Film Festival on September 29th and will be released globally on Netflix and in limited theatrical release on November 2nd.
Here’s the official synopsis for They’ll Love Me When I’m Dead:
Oscar-winning director Morgan Neville (20 Feet from Stardom) tells the story of legendary director Orson Welles during the final 15 years of his life. No longer the “wonder boy” of Citizen Kane, Welles in 1970 was an artist in exile looking for his Hollywood comeback with a project called The Other Side of the Wind. For years, Welles toiled on the film, about an aging film director trying to finish his last great movie. Welles shot the picture guerrilla-style in chaotic circumstances with a devoted crew of young dreamers, all while struggling with financiers and fate. In 1985, Welles died, leaving as his final testament the most famous unfinished movie in film history. The negative stayed in a vault for decades - until now. With revelatory new insights from Welles collaborators including Peter Bogdanovich, Frank Marshall, Oja Kodar and daughter Beatrice Welles, They’ll Love Me When I’m Dead is the untold final chapter of one of the greatest careers in film history: brilliant, innovative, defiant and unbowed.