Kevin Spacey urges Netflix to finally release his Gore Vidal biopic, calling it one of his best

Put your memory cap on: back in 2017, Kevin Spacey was in sunny Italy, shooting a biopic about Gore Vidal for Netflix. The film, apparently titled 'Dear Mr. Vidal', was all but in the can before Spacey’s whole career exploded over sexual misconduct accusations. In the inevitable fallout, Netflix dropped Spacey faster than you can say 'House of Cards', and quietly shoved the Vidal project onto a shelf to gather dust.

Now, nearly ten years later, Spacey has popped up on a podcast to essentially ask Netflix if it could stop pretending the film doesn’t exist. Speaking on the Club Random podcast, he put it in his characteristically earnest way:

'I played Gore Vidal in a movie that we shot in 2017 in Italy. It’s a movie called Dear Mr. Vidal, and Netflix has shelved it.'

He added that there’s no question of the film being unfinished; he’s seen it. Done and dusted, as he puts it. What has Spacey really riled is that, in his opinion, the director, writer, and his co-star Michael Stuhlbarg (playing Vidal’s partner of four decades) are being punished even though they’ve done nothing wrong. He went so far as to call Stuhlbarg’s performance Oscar-worthy, and not for nothing—Stuhlbarg is hardly a lightweight. According to Spacey, 'It’s an incredible movie and I have to say, I think it’s one of the best films I’ve ever done.'

But don’t hold your breath for a release date. Producer Andy Paterson had a crack at sorting things out last year, and his updates were, let’s just say, not encouraging. Paterson made his own plea to Netflix: release the film, or at least let him shop it around elsewhere. Netflix’s response? Something along the lines of 'we’ve already written it off for tax purposes, cheers.'

Paterson thought this excuse was, frankly, a bit much, especially since Netflix still stream 'House of Cards' (at least the early seasons) and other Spacey films. In his words:

'The audience—including the Netflix subscribers who paid for the film—should be allowed to decide if they want to see it. Netflix asserts its support for freedom of artistic expression yet it will not explain why this film should be buried when they still have the first five seasons of "House of Cards" and several Kevin Spacey films on their platform. Their current excuse for dismissing my request is that they took a tax write-off on the film, but that could easily be resolved. I repeat the request: if you won’t show the film, allow me to find another way for audiences to see a powerful and entertaining exploration of many of the issues that inform the debate around the intersection of sex, power and creativity.'

The film itself, if it ever sees daylight, features the following:

• Kevin Spacey as Gore Vidal
• Michael Stuhlbarg as Vidal’s partner, Howard Austen (with Spacey tipping Stuhlbarg for an Oscar, in case the Academy is short on reminders)
• Shot entirely in Italy, wrapped in 2017
• Directed and scripted, with a full cast and crew—Spacey claims it’s totally finished

Spacey’s back-catalogue is far from wiped from Netflix, which does make the decision to keep this particular film locked away look a bit arbitrary (or, if you’re feeling cynical, like a PR move that won’t stand up to much scrutiny). Meanwhile, the rest of us are left wondering whether the project will ever leave digital purgatory, or remain an odd Hollywood what-if.