BEARD BUDGET BALLOONS

June 5, 2002 02:21 PM

The budget of director Joe Beard's sci-fi courtroom drama Space Court has rocketed out of control, with the film now costing upwards of $900-million, insiders report.

This would make Space Court the most expensive film ever made, costing more than four times as much as the legendary Titanic.

Even as its costs spiral uncontrollably, the film is nowhere near finished. "We're doing reshoots of reshoots, and we haven't even shot the ending. I don't think he knows the ending yet," a source on the set submits. "This film may never be completed. Beard's lost his mind."

The shoot has been far from smooth. Behind-the-scenes footage available on the film's own website shows star Hank Boeing thowing tantrums, apparently sick of Beard's obsession with special effects. Sources claim the effects themselves are enourmous failures. "He spent $1.5-million on a space sweater for one of the jurors," says a postproduction worker. "The thing looks ridiculous, it's shimmering and popping like crazy. It's garbage."

Set insiders say Beard may be on the verge of a breakdown. His hygiene is apparently falling apart. "He reeks. He's taking suppositories all day long, and his fingers reek. He reeks."

Studio executives are rumoured to be extremely peeved, but there's nothing they can do. After the runaway success of BSCB: Benevolent Sea Creature Boy and BSCB II: BSCB in NYC, Beard commands total control over his pictures and is financing a chunk of Court with his own ample cash hoard.

Beard refused to comment by press time.