What if Pedro Almodovar had directed ‘Brokeback Mountain’?

“Brokeback Mountain” is generally considered a pretty great film, but did you know that before Ang Lee signed on to direct it, the project was offered to Spanish director Pedro Almodovar? How weird would that have been? “They offered me Brokeback Mountain, but I had many doubts. Thinking about it, I don’t know if I made a mistake or not [in turning it down],” the director tells the Financial Times. “They promised me total artistic freedom and final cut, but it was a story that was so physical — it’s not just that the characters sleep together once — and that has to be there. I think Ang Lee went as far as he could and I like his version very much. But I always imagined it differently and I don’t think I would have been able to make it the way I wanted. They wouldn’t have let me.”

Follow Ned Ehrbar on Twitter: @nedrick