Pedro Almodovar Talks About His More Sexual Version Of ‘Brokeback Mountain,’ Reveals He Voted ‘Carol’ For Best Picture & More

Although it has already opened in several territories and continues to roll out, Spanish auteur Pedro Almodovar’s latest film “Julieta” will not be released in the U.S. until December 21st. Yet the filmmaker is already charting his next two films.

Speaking on the latest Empire podcast, the filmmaker discussed many topics, including Todd Haynes’ “Carol” and Pablo Larrain’s “El Club,” his favorite films of 2015. And despite the fact that the film was not nominated for Best Picture, Almodovar said that he voted for Haynes’ exquisite love story on his Oscar ballot.

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“Last year, I voted for one that was [not on the ballot], for ‘Carol,’ by Todd Haynes,” he admitted. “I love that movie. And I thought [the Oscar results] was really unfair… for me, it was one of the best movies of last year.”

So what was his favorite movie of the year? “Really, I have to say that the best movie that I remember of last year was not among the eight Best Picture nominees. It was ‘El Club,’” he said. “Absolutely, it was the best movie for me, but I couldn’t vote for it. It’s a subject [about abusive priests] that I also felt very close to. I made my own movie about that, ‘Bad Education.’”

Now, Almodovar is moving ahead with his own work, and he told Empire he has two scripts that he’s tackling at the moment.

“I’m writing now and there [are] two stories… the next movie is between one of these two,” he explained. “One is a comedy, a dark, very dark comedy and the other is a drama more in the [vein] of ‘Julieta.’ I don’t know which one I will finish first, but I know, more or less, what will be the next film.”

“I’m writing these two, but I have more stories,” he added. “I’m taking notes almost every day about a lot of different stories. And there is a moment when one drives you to finish. So I [try and decide], but it’s more about the story that chooses me to finish.”

Almodovar did not say whether one of the two projects was the mooted English-language movie he was hoping to make or if one is “Mina,” his brewing biopic about the Italian singer.

Empire also asked about Almodovar’s version of “Brokeback Mountain,” a film he was originally scheduled to direct before Ang Lee came on board. How would it have been different?

“More sex, more sex,” he said plainly. “And this is not gratuitous. [Author] Annie Proulx’s story is about a physical relationship, an animal relation. So sex is necessary, because it is the body of the story. So I always had the image —these two guys start making love to each other like animals, like they were taking care of . Against the cold, in the mountain; almost a way to survive in the mountains. In the end, they discover that it was something else and they were surprised; it was like a big accident. But the physical part, [the story] is about that. And I love the movie and the actors, they were incredible, but I’m always thinking about Annie Proulx and not Hollywood and I think my point of view was not easy to make.”

“Of course they promise you all kinds of artistic freedom,” he continued,” but it seems to me I could do that in Europe, but not in the United States.”

Thoughts? Would you have liked to have seen Almodovar’s version of the film over Lee’s? Sound off in the comments below and listen to the podcast.