The Ghost put on hold

Due to Roman Polanski's arrest over the weekend, the release of The Ghost, starring Ewan McGregor may be delayed:

Polanski's agent, ICM chief Jeff Berg, said Polanski had completed much of the editing on "The Ghost." But other postproduction work, including music scoring and sound mixing, had yet to be done, Berg said.

While the film does not yet have a U.S. deal, it has distribution in many overseas territories, among them Germany, where it was shot early this year, and France, where Polanski lives. He fled America in 1978 after pleading guilty to having unlawful sexual intercourse with a 13-year-old girl in Los Angeles.

Berg said Polanski usually finishes his films before lining up U.S. distribution, so the completed movie can be shopped around.

"There is always interest in movies that Roman distributes," Berg said. "It should be accepted on its own merits, but we feel highly confident we'll find proper distribution."

With Polanski jailed, it's unknown when work might resume on "The Ghost." Berg said he is confident Polanski will put his legal troubles behind him and finish the film.

"I'm always optimistic when it comes to Roman," Berg said. "He's strong, and he has survived every situation imaginable." [The Hollywood Reporter]

I couldn't decide if I wanted to talk about the whole Polanski situation because it feels sort of irrelevant to what I do and I've been to sites where the whole debate has gotten VERY ugly. But I decided to express my opinion because it feels like I'm ignoring some very serious circumstances if I don't.

Polanski is a gifted filmmaker and I can defend his professional work. What I cannot and will not defend is his horrible crime and his escape to France 30 years ago. That will probably be the first and last time I talk about the case.