Guillermo Del Toro Was ‘Back-Up Director’ On William Friedkin’s Final Film

William Friedkin had Guillermo del Toro backing him up on his final outing.

At the Venice premiere of the late director’s last film, “The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial”, producer Annabelle Dunne revealed del Toro acted as “back-up director” on the project.

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“That’s very common, Hollywood is ageist,” Dunne said of the contractual need for the 87-year-old filmmaker to have a back-up, according to Variety, adding that she was going to reveal a “state secret.”

Recalling how she let Friedkin know about the requirement, the director told her, “Let me think about that.”

The next day, he called her back and said, “Ok, honey I have the guy. Get a pen: it’s Guillermo Del Toro, you got that?”

Dunne called up the Oscar-winning “Shape of Water” director, who told her, “I am going to come to set every single day and sit next to you.”

She added, “It was joy for all of us, including the actors, to have his presence there. He made it abundantly clear it was Billy’s movie. He said he was our mascot.”

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Friedkin, who was behind classics like “The French Connection”, “The Exorcist”, “Sorcerer” and “To Live and Die in L.A.”, died on August 7.

Kiefer Sutherland stars in “The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial” as Lr. Commander Queeg, who stands trial in the film for mutiny after taking command of a ship from its captain, who he felt was acting in a mentally unstable manner.

Based on the classic novel by Herman Wouk, the story was previously adapted into a 1954 film starring Humphrey Bogart, as well as a Broadway play that same year and a made-for-TV movie in 1988 directed by Robert Altman.