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Oral History

Netflix Canceled the Release of a Gore Vidal Biopic Eight Years Ago — for the Filmmakers, the Story Isn’t Over

A Gore Vidal biopic, canceled at the streamer in 2017, would've been an early Netflix prestige original. But then, allegations against Kevin Spacey killed the film in post-production. IndieWire speaks to the below-the-line collaborators for an oral history of what went down.
Kevin Spacey at amfAR Gala Cannes 2025 during the 78th Cannes Film Festival at Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc on May 22, 2025 in Antibes, France.
Kevin Spacey at amfAR Gala Cannes 2025 during the 78th Cannes Film Festival at Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc on May 22, 2025 in Antibes, France.
Michael Buckner/Variety

In winter 2018, Netflix gave a triumphant report of its fourth quarter earnings from 2017. The streaming giant touted its increased streaming revenue, over 20 million new memberships added, and that the company doubled its worldwide operating income. It mentioned only a minor piece of bad financial news: Netflix took a $39-million loss in unreleased content from the quarter. “Despite this unexpected expense,” the report said, “we slightly exceeded our contribution profit and operating income forecast due to our stronger-than-expected member growth and the timing of international content spend.”

But the report did not draw attention to what that $39 million loss was: the cost of several episodes of “House of Cards” and a film starring Kevin Spacey that Netflix chose not to release in light of of several accusations of sexual misconduct, including one by actor Anthony Rapp that he said occurred when he was 14 and Spacey was 26. 

That canceled film is “Gore,” a biopic of writer Gore Vidal directed by Michael Hoffman and based on the biography “Empire of Self” by Jay Parini. The project — solely financed by Netflix — was the first finished film cancelled by a streaming service, a practice that Warner Bros. Discovery and Netflix have come to embrace. 

Almost eight years since the film’s axing was announced, IndieWire spoke to some of the people who worked on “Gore” to learn more about the making — and shuttering — of the film from their perspective.

The story of “Gore” starts with the story of Parini’s relationship to Gore Vidal himself. The two met when Parini was in his thirties and had already published several books. “Gore saw in me somebody like himself,” Parini told IndieWire. After meeting on the Amalfi Coast, the two began what would become an 30-year-plus friendship. “I really loved Gore,” Parini added in a statement. “He was like a big brother to me.”

Parini later wrote the biography “Empire of Self,” published in 2015, three years after Vidal’s death. The development of a film adaptation later began with director Michael Hoffman, with whom Parini had previously worked on the film adaptation of his novel “The Last Station,” which premiered in 2009. The two developed the script and brought on producer Andy Paterson, a mutual friend of theirs.

“‘The Last Station’ had taken me 20 years, so I thought movies would take forever,” Parini said. “But the ‘Gore’ movie came up in minutes.”

The accelerant was when Spacey came on board to play Vidal. “I had sent the book to Kevin because he knew Gore and admired him,” Parini said. Spacey soon agreed to star in the film adaptation. “Once we had that, Netflix jumped on board and said, ‘Sure, we’ll get behind this.’”

British film director Michael Hoffman (L) and writer Jay Parini  pose in London's Mayfair, on January 26, 2010, to attend the British Premiere of The Last Station. AFP Photo/Max Nash (Photo credit should read MAX NASH/AFP via Getty Images)
British film director Michael Hoffman (L) and writer Jay Parini at London’s Mayfair, on January 26, 2010, to attend the British Premiere of ‘The Last Station’AFP via Getty Images

In 2017, most Netflix original films were acquisitions, often bought after films premiered at festivals, such as the first Netflix original, “Beasts of No Nation,” which debuted in 2015. But Netflix had greenlit several high-profile original films in the years before “Gore.” In 2015, the streamer financed their first film with “The Ridiculous 6,” which they spent an estimated $60 million to fund. They also bought the rights to a live-action “Death Note” adaptation from Warner Bros. in 2015 and greenlit the project with a budget between $40-50 million

For “Gore,” Netflix provided the sole funding to the project, paying the estimated $12 million budget to Paterson’s production company directly. While there was nothing in the film’s official contract that stipulated “Gore” would be released in theaters, the film made use of the UK’s film production tax credit that requires a theatrical release, implying Netflix intended to show the film in theaters. At the time, a theatrical run was a requirement for major awards nominations.

Netflix’s excitement for the project came from its longtime relationship with Spacey. The Oscar-winning actor led “House of Cards,” Netflix’s first foray into original programming that helped launch the service to new critical and commercial heights. “Gore” would be one of the streamer’s most high-profile film productions to date, with the solid foundation to become a major awards contender. 

“This Could Be the Future”

The composer for “Gore,” Simon Boswell, spoke to the excitement around Netflix greenlighting the small-scale drama project while much of the industry still embraced more expensive projects. “I think we were all quite heartened in a way that this could be the future,” he told IndieWire.

“Gore” takes place in the mid-’80s and follows young writer Jamie (Douglas Booth) and his girlfriend Mari (Freya Mavor), who spend time with Vidal in his Amalfi Coast mansion shortly after Vidal’s failed campaign for California Senate. The film focuses on the tumultuous relationship between Vidal and longtime partner Howard Austen (Michael Stuhlbarg), as Vidal struggled with depression and alcoholism.

Douglas Booth at the "Shoshana" screening at the 48th Annual Toronto International Film Festival held at the TIFF Bell Lightbox on September 8, 2023 in Toronto, Canada.
Douglas Booth at the 48th Annual Toronto International Film Festival in 2023Michael Buckner/Variety

Spacey was announced to star as Vidal in July 2017. The rest of the crew included cinematographer Oliver Stapleton, Oscar-winning production designer Patrizia von Bradenstein, and costume designer Gabriella Pescucci. 

Production on “Gore” began on Italy’s Amalfi Coast in August. Much of the film was shot in Vidal’s actual house in Ravella, which the crew had to restore.

The film had a budget of roughly $12 million. “Not a big budget for a film, which is entirely shot on location and in a difficult location,” said line producer Enrico Ballarin. The house had been abandoned for over 15 years and had fallen into disrepair. “We had to call plumbers, electricians, and we had to rebuild [the swimming pool]… We succeeded … with a reasonable amount of money.”

“Gore” filmed in Italy for seven weeks, amounting to roughly 35 shooting days. The crew of about 100 people comprised mostly Italian locals. The film also made use of both the Italian film production tax credit and an additional fund for shooting in the Campania region. 

The crew successfully restored Vidal’s house to what it looked like in the ’80s. For Parini, who was on set every day of filming, the experience was a strange homecoming. “The ghost of Gore was hanging over me… It was just too weird, almost painful, to be reliving, especially my youth with Gore.”

Also present on set sometimes were executives from Netflix, who kept tabs on what was at the time one of the company’s most high-profile forays into original programming. The main executive involved was Matt Brodlie, Netflix’s then Director of Original Film. 

“They were very supportive,” Ballarin said of Netflix’s involvement while shooting. “In a good sense because, normally working in independent productions, it doesn’t work the same way.” Ballarin added, “Matt came over to Italy to visit and was really a great producer to work with.”

Editor Camilla Toniolo, who was on set during the “Gore” shoot, recalled how Netflix executives “loved” the footage and dailies. “The footage was so beautiful,” Toniolo said. “It was a movie that really consumed me in terms of how much I wanted to do on it… For any editor to have a lot of footage that’s really good, it’s the best you can ask for.” 

Production wrapped on the film in October 2017. Post-production moved to London, where the edit continued at Warner Bros. De Lane Lea Studios in London. A rough cut was completed by the time shooting wrapped. This was a common practice, according to Toniolo, who said she always edits while the films she works on are being shot.

Anthony Rapp at the "Star Trek: Section 31" World Premiere held at Jazz at Lincoln Center on January 22, 2025 in New York, New York.
Anthony Rapp at the ‘Star Trek: Section 31’ World Premiere held at Jazz at Lincoln Center on January 22, 2025 in New York, New YorkKristina Bumphrey/Variety

A few weeks after post-production moved to London, Buzzfeed News first published the accusations against Spacey made by Anthony Rapp. Several other people came forward with allegations of sexual misconduct against the actor in the coming days. Some of these were “House of Cards” employees, who accused the actor of creating a toxic environment through a consistent pattern of committing sexual harassment and assault. Many accusations also stemmed from Spacey’s 11 years as artistic director at The Old Vic theatre in London. Twenty men involved with the theater accused Spacey of groping and behaving inappropriately.

According to Toniolo, the accusations came a day after she screened the film with Paterson and Hoffman. That Sunday, October 29, she got a call from Hoffman informing her of the allegations.

The next morning, she met with Paterson. “[He] arrived to let me and my assistant go because, you know, Netflix wanted us dead… they wanted us gone.”

“We’re Sticking Around Until We Know What’s Going on”

Netflix said on November 3 that the company would sever all ties with Spacey, including that he would no longer be involved with “House of Cards” going forward, adding, “We have also decided we will not be moving forward with the release of the film ‘Gore,’ which was in post-production, starring and produced by Kevin Spacey,” according to the statement. The last season of “House of Cards” went forward, with Spacey’s character being written out of the show by being killed off and co-star Robin Wright assuming the lead role. 

Paterson informed Toniolo and her assistant Tom Chandler that the cutting room would be closed to stop post-production as he learned more about the situation, offering to let his collaborators leave the project. “We wouldn’t dream of it,” Toniolo recalled telling Paterson. “We’re sticking around until we know what’s going on.”

According to Toniolo, Paterson’s lawyers began meeting with Netflix and discovered that shutting down the post-production of the film would put Netflix in violation of its contract with Paterson’s production company. “[Paterson’s] lawyers and [Netflix’s] lawyer came to an agreement that we would finish the film… the budget was already there.” Toniolo added, “The fact that we were finishing the film was just based on a legal issue. It was not out of [Netflix’s] good intentions or respect for filmmaking. I really don’t believe that.”

Robin Wright
Robin Wright at a ‘House of Cards’ event in 2018Michael Buckner/Variety/PMC

Chandler recalled the edit process continuing on. “I was still getting paid, so I still turned up to work.” 

The project moved to a different room in the post-production facility. Chandler described a heightened level of security once the film’s cancellation was public: “We were no longer an obscure movie; it was something that was in the news.” The project also continued under a new codename title, “All the Things You Are,” a reference to a song in the film.

As part of the post-production process, Chandler said they brought all the cast they needed to complete the film’s ADR to London — except for Spacey.

The film also still had the budget to record an orchestral score by Boswell. He recalled working on the project after the film’s cancellation with a sense of optimism. “It was my impression that [Netflix] would see sense because the film was really good when I watched it, that this would come out somehow,” Boswell said.

Boswell recorded the score at Lyndhurst Studios, Hampstead on April 5-6, 2018, with an orchestra of about 30-40 people. Later in the edit process, the title of the film was changed from “Gore” to “Dear Mr. Vidal.”

Once the film was completed, screenings were held with the cast, crew, and select friends and family members. “We had small screenings in the smallest screening room at Warners in London,” Toniolo said. “They liked it very much and they all anxiously asked, ‘So what’s going to happen to this beautiful movie? … They were also not believing that a movie of this caliber would not come out.”

But the screenings were not highly publicized among those who worked on the film. Chandler was unaware of any screenings occurring until our interview, and Ballarin had seen a cut of the film while it was in post-production, but has still never seen the finished version.

Oscar Hopes Dashed

A finished cut of “Gore” was seen by Netflix brass at some point in the process. According to Boswell, he had heard from people he knew in Los Angeles that Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos had screenings of the film in his private theater to show off the quality of the film. “I thought it was encouraging. Maybe he’s gonna come around to it and relent somewhere down the road.”

Everyone interviewed for this story spoke highly of “Gore” as a film — though they are admittedly not unbiased viewers since they are collaborators on the project — paying specific attention to its cinematography, the production design, and especially the performances of Spacey and Stuhlbarg. “Stuhlbarg would, I swear, have won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor had the film appeared,” Parini said in his statement. If the film had premiered in 2018, it would have been the year after Stuhlbarg appeared in a trio of Best Picture-nominated films: “Call Me by Your Name,” “The Post,” and winner “The Shape of Water.”

Michael Stuhlbarg at the AFI Fest screening of "Bones and All" held at TCL Chinese Theatre on November 5, 2022 in Los Angeles, California.
Michael Stuhlbarg at the AFI Fest screening of ‘Bones and All’ held at TCL Chinese Theatre on November 5, 2022 in Los Angeles, CaliforniaGilbert Flores/Variety

“It was one of the very rare films that I’ve done where the whole crew was really struck by the performances of the cast,” Ballarin said.

“Gore” would have been among Netflix’s first major film awards contenders. During the last few weeks of filming, Netflix asked the production to make a trailer that could be used during the film’s awards campaign, according to a source close to the production. Several months after Gore’s cancellation, the streamer bought the distribution rights for “Roma” in April 2018 ahead of its premiere at the Venice Film Festival in August of that year. Netflix backed an Oscars campaign that eventually led to the company’s first Best Picture nomination at the Academy Awards and later won several awards, including Best Director for Alfonso Cuarón.

In the months and years since “Gore” was finished, updates about the film became more sparse. A 2018 Buzzfeed News article titled “Kevin Spacey’s Last Movie Might be Totally Fucked. Here’s Why” obtained the screenplay for “Gore” and pointed to several scenes where Vidal speaks brashly about sex and sexuality that would take on a darker meaning in light of the allegations against Spacey. 

“I think perhaps Michael and Andy were in the limbo about whether this was gonna come out and that perhaps it might take a year, it might take two years, three years for the dust to settle,” Boswell said. “But clearly that’s not the case.”

A Streaming-Era Pattern of Cancellations

While “Gore” was not the first finished film to go unreleased, it was the first in the streaming era of entertainment. The studio took a tax write-off on the $39 million loss from the cost of the film and the scrapped episodes of “House of Cards.”

Since then, the practice has become more common. In 2022, as part of an attempt to fix the company’s finances after its merger, Warner Bros. Discovery opted to pull the plug on several films, including “Batgirl,” “Scoob! Holiday Haunt,” and “Coyote v. Acme,” and took a tax write-off for the losses. Netflix also stopped post-production of its film “The Mothership,” starring Halle Berry, in 2024 after originally teasing the film for a 2022 release. The reason given for the film’s cancellation was issues in the post-production process and the high cost of finishing the film through reshoots, according to Netflix’s chief content officer, Bela Bajaria.

But releases for shelved films are not impossible. “Coyote v. Acme” found a distributor in Ketchup Entertainment, which bought the rights back from Warner Bros. Discovery. “Magazine Dreams,” a film acquired out of Sundance by Searchlight Pictures — which later canceled its release after the film’s star, Jonathan Majors, was found guilty of assault — was eventually distributed by Briarcliff Entertainment after Searchlight returned the rights to the filmmakers.

GORE VIDAL: THE UNITED STATES OF AMNESIA, Gore Vidal, 2013. ©IFC Films/Courtesy Everett Collection
Gore Vidal as seen in the documentary ‘Gore Vidal: The United States of Amnesia’©IFC Films/Courtesy Everett Collection / Everett Collection

But the situation for “Gore” complicates a potential release. Netflix is the sole financier of the project and owns the film. “It would cost you $20 million, $30 million to buy this movie back from Netflix,” Parini said. “You need somebody to come along, some billionaire, to say ‘Free speech has been harmed here.”

For those who worked on “Gore,” the film’s cancellation is a major artistic and professional loss. 

“Hundreds of people worked on this. It’s really frustrating that you dedicate a year of your life to something and it doesn’t come out. You give your soul to something and somebody else decides that it’s not good enough,” Chandler said. “I make art for it to be seen. I don’t make art to be put in a cupboard.”

“I put every single cell of my body into it, and it never came out. It’s incredibly upsetting,” Toniolo told IndieWire.

Especially for those working on a smaller film, the lack of release for “Gore” has potentially greater ramifications. “When I get paid to do a movie, which in this case was not a huge sum of money, part of the deal is that you are as good as your last film,” Boswell said. “It’s publicity and to somehow be robbed of that possibility, especially when you put a lot of creative effort into something you are proud of, that’s a bit of a smack in the face.”

Almost all those interviewed said the cancellation of “Gore” resulted in a potential loss of job opportunities. “Everyone would have gotten better work had this come out, 100 percent,” Chandler said.

The Specter of Spacey Hangs Over “Gore”

Actor Douglas Booth declined through a representative to speak to IndieWire for this story. But in an interview with Movie Web in December 2024, he highlighted the impact of the film’s cancellation on Michael Hoffman and Jay Parini. “For me, it breaks my heart the most for Michael… I can go on and make other movies, and I have done many, but […] Jay Parini, the writer […] he wrote it with Michael, so much work over years. It’s particularly heartbreaking for them, because you can’t just spend seven years developing something, and it’s sort of just put in a safe.”

The specter of Spacey hangs over the future of “Gore” as a film. When I first reached out to Parini in 2022, he declined to discuss the film until Spacey’s trials finished making their way through the New York and London courts. Spacey was found not liable in civil court for Rapp’s accusations in New York in 2022 and was acquitted by a jury of several counts of sexual assault in 2023. He is still facing several civil lawsuits for sexual assault in the UK.

In the years since Netflix cut ties with him, Spacey has not completely stepped out of the public eye. He has continued to act in independent films. He has also kept a steady online presence, posting several videos around Christmas and being interviewed by Tucker Carlson while acting like his character in “House of Cards.” Most recently, he was presented with an “engagement award” by the Better World Fund at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival — an appearance allegedly orchestrated by the producers of his film “The Awakening,” according to Variety, which was being shopped for distribution at the festival’s market.

Kevin Spacey at amfAR Gala Cannes 2025 during the 78th Cannes Film Festival at Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc on May 22, 2025 in Antibes, France.
Kevin Spacey at amfAR Gala Cannes 2025 during the 78th Cannes Film Festival at Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc on May 22, 2025 in Antibes, FranceMichael Buckner/Variety

Everyone IndieWire spoke to for this story conveyed hope that “Gore” would be released in some form eventually. Michael Stuhlbarg did not respond to requests for comment through a representative for this article. But in a 2017 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, he said, “Honestly, we all have some hope that perhaps. Over time, there will be a chance for people to see it in the light in which it was meant to be seen.”

“Gore” has not been forgotten by those who worked on it. On the film’s IMDb Pro page, the film’s status was updated to “Completed” in October 2024. The change is accompanied by a note that says, “I’m the producer. The film is finished. Netflix need [sic] to let it go.” Producer Andy Paterson is the only person credited solely with the title of producer on the film.

Paterson provided the following statement to IndieWire: “I have repeatedly asked Netflix either to show the film or to give me the opportunity to find a new life for it. They have said that they do not intend ever to release the Picture or sell it to a third party. I, and many others in the creative community, find this an extraordinary statement. 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.”  

It is a twist of irony that a movie about Gore Vidal — a writer who constantly inserted himself into controversy and who spoke out against corporate interests — would have a biopic made by a tech conglomerate that would ultimately not be released as part of a decision to avoid further controversy. But for Parini, the shelving of “Gore” represents a larger issue.

“Why let corporations decide who gets to see a film and who doesn’t,” Parini wrote in his statement. “Art should, even must, be democratic, and corporations — or governments — should not be in the business of censorship.”

Netflix declined through a spokesperson to comment on allegations of censorship or on the possibility of relinquishing the rights to “Gore” so it can be released by another party.

“Gore” highlights the struggle in the entertainment industry between art and commerce. For Netflix, the film’s axing was a financial loss taken to safeguard the brand from an unwanted association with Spacey and the allegations against him. For those who worked on the film, it’s a creative endeavor — for some, the culmination of years of work — now locked away due to a corporation’s need to protect its brand from only one of the hundreds of people involved in the film’s creation. 

In the streaming age, when services are overflowing with every kind of film and TV imaginable, it’s easy to forget a film no one wants to dwell on. But for the individuals involved in the project, the noise around “Gore” overshadows the care that went into making the film.

“PR people make all of the stuff about the star, but a film is not that,” Boswell explained. “A film is lots of people’s livelihoods and lots of people’s efforts.” 

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