Donald Sutherland's passing was one of several painful losses in 2024. He's widely considered to be the best actor to never have been nominated for an Academy Award, and his filmography is riddled with classics across multiple decades.
Sutherland was shooting the film Fate when he died on June 20, and the director, Jonathan Baker, was forced to recast Sutherland's role with another screen icon, Harvey Keitel. Sutherland will not appear in the final version, but he will appear in the accompanying documentary, Standing on the Shoulders of Fate.
Sutherland died before completing his Fate scenes
Deadline reports that Baker has sold the international rights to the documentary, which will detail the working relationship he had with Sutherland during the last year of his life. It will mark the first film to feature Sutherland in a starring role since his death, and the outlet makes it sound as though Baker has gone out of his way to tribute the beloved actor in the process.
This should come as no surprise to those familiar with Sutherland and Baker's relationship. When the former died, Baker issued a lengthy statement praising him and his presence on the set:
"He always had a sense of humor about him. Donald and I spent six months crafting his performance for this role... A great and endearing friendship emerged until the end."
The doc will be Sutherland's first posthumous release
Standing on the Shoulders of Fate will mark Sutherland's final live action appearance, and his first since his supporting role in the historical drama Miranda's Victim (2023). The documentary will delve into the elaborate production behind Fate, which was made for $15 million. The doc will also feature appearances from Keitel, Andrew McCarthy, Mena Suvari, and Sutherland's former co-star and 70s peer, Faye Dunaway.
Highland, the production studio behind Fate, is selling the documentary and the film at the 2024 American Film Market. The domestic rights to the film are still available for purchase, and a release date has yet to be set.