Monty Python's Life of Brian December 1976, with a first draft completed by mid-1977. The final pre-production draft was ready in January 1978, following "a concentrated two-week writing and water-skiing period in Barbados". The film would not have been made without Python fan former Beatle George Harrison, who set up HandMade Films to help fund it at a cost of £3 million. Harrison put up the money for it as he "wanted to see the movie" — later described by Terry Jones as the "world's most expensive cinema ticket." The original backers, EMI Films, had been scared off at the last minute by the subject
Monty Python's Life of Brian Julian Doyle, the film's editor, wrote "The Life of Brian/Jesus", a book which not only describes the filmmaking and editing process but argues that it is the most accurate Biblical film ever made. In October 2008, a memoir by Kim "Howard" Johnson titled "Monty Python's Tunisian Holiday: My Life with Brian" was released. Johnson became friendly with the Pythons during the filming of "Life of Brian" and his notes and memories of the behind-the-scenes filming and make-up. With the success of Eric Idle's musical retelling of "Monty Python and the Holy Grail", called "Spamalot", Idle announced that he would be