Polanski finishing up 'The Ghost' in jail

ZURICH, Switzerland, Oct. 14 (UPI) -- Roman Polanski's friend says the French-born filmmaker is finishing up his latest movie from the Swiss prison where he has been held for nearly three weeks.

Polanski, 76, was arrested Sept. 26 in Zurich on an outstanding U.S. warrant in connection with a 1977 child-sex case.

The famous movie director, who lives in France, has not traveled to the United States since he pleaded guilty in a Los Angeles court to having unlawful sex with a minor and then fled the country before he could be sentenced. He was accused of drugging and raping Samantha Geimer when she was 13.

Polanski's lawyers have alleged misconduct on the part of the Los Angeles criminal justice system at the time of the plea deal. They are fighting extradition from Switzerland to the United States.

Robert Harris, Polanski's longtime friend and author of the screenplay for the director's upcoming film "The Ghost," said Tuesday at The Times Cheltenham Literature Festival that Polanski is still making decisions regarding the movie, including its score, so the film should premiere as planned this February at the Berlin Film Festival.

"He can make his wishes known from his cell. I don't think he can make phone calls, but he can communicate. What people think of the film is another matter," The Times of London quoted Harris as saying. "Whether the film can rise above the circumstances in which the director now finds himself I don't know. We will test to the upper limits the notion that there's no such thing as bad publicity."

"The Ghost" stars Irish actor Pierce Brosnan as a British prime minister accused of war crimes on the day of his arrest, The Times said.