Posted April 25, 2011
According to German Newspapers, noted film director Wim Wenders has decided against producing the 2013 Jubilee Ring for the Bayreuth Festival.
http://www.welt.de/kultur/article13075510/Bayreuth-will-keine-Produktio…
The parties were unable to reach agreement and set designs were already in progress
But the main sticking point was a proposed 3-D film of the production. Wenders wanted the Bayreuth Festival to provide millions in financing, and wouldn’t have been able come up with a finished movie until 2015-16. It was reported that Katharina Wagner wouldn’t tolerate this sort of ‘arrogance’.
This leaves whoever takes over – and Katharina herself can’t be ruled out at this stage, despite her other commitments – with only a couple of years to prepare. Not a long time in the world of opera. Tankred Dorst pulled together the last Bayreuth Ring in a similar time scale after Lars von Trier withdrew and the results on that venture were mixed.
The German press has wild reports of possible directors, speculating on directors from Terry Gilliam, Pedro Aldomovar, Stephen Spielberg and Woody Allen.