HOLLYWOOD -- 'Brainstorm,' the movie suspended when Natalie Wood drowned almost three months ago, resumed shooting Monday at MGM after a battle between its director and the studio over scrapping the film altogether.
A studio spokesman said director Douglas Trumbull assembled crew and cast members to renew principal photography to complete the science fiction film co-starring Christopher Walken, Louise Fletcher and Cliff Robertson.
The studio attempted to scrub the picture after Miss Wood's death, seeking to collect $15 million from insurance carriers. Lloyd's of London, the major insurer, will provide $3 million to complete photography, a spokesman said.
Director Trumbull said he had completed 47 days of the 60-day shooting schedule and predicted audiences would be unable to detect Miss Wood's absence in certain scenes.
Trumbull, who spent four years developing 'Brainstorm,' considered the decision to continue the picture a victory. He said there will be 18 days more shooting on the film and another five or six months devoted to special effects before the movie is completed.
Walken reported for work for the first scene Monday on MGM's Stage 29 and said he agreed that the picture should be completed 'for Natalie's sake.'
Miss Wood drowned last Nov. 29 when she fell from the family yacht on which she and husband Robert Wagner, accompanied by Walken were spending the weekend off Santa Catalina Island.
