EXCLUSIVE: Daniel Brühl (Inglourious Basterds) has signed on to star alongside Paul Bettany and Jeremy Pope in the upcoming Warhol-Basquiat film The Collaboration, based on the acclaimed play by four-time Oscar nominee Anthony McCarten, which heads into production in Boston in September.
The Collaboration revolves around the relationship between the two iconic artists, starting in the summer of 1984. International superstar Andy Warhol (Bettany) and the art scene’s newest wunderkind, Jean-Michel Basquiat (Pope), agree to work together on what may be the most talked about exhibition in the history of modern art. But can these two creative giants co-exist with such opposing views of life and art? (Things worked out in the end, of course, with Warhol and Basquiat’s works now selling for tens of millions.)
Brühl has been tapped for the role of Bruno Bischofberger, the legendary art impresario who first suggested a series of collaborations between Basquiat and Warhol, two artists at very different junctures in their lives and careers in the 1980s.
McCarten adapted his play, which made its world premiere at London’s Young Vic Theatre in February, with Bettany and Pope as Warhol and Basquiat, respectively. Renowned theatre director and writer Kwame Kwei-Armah is returning to mount the film, in his feature debut, after directing the play in its original run. Oscar winner Hannah Beachler (Black Panther) will serve as its production designer, with Oscar nominee Robert Yeoman (The Grand Budapest Hotel) as its cinematographer. Alongside McCarten via his Muse of Fire, and Kwei-Armah, the film will be produced and co-financed by Denis O’Sullivan, Josh Crook, and Jeff Kalligheri on behalf of Compelling Pictures; Marina Cappi on behalf of Marina Studios Productions; and Hunter Perot on behalf of Live Wire Entertainment. The play’s producers Eleanor Lloyd, Stanley Buchtal and Bob Benton will exec produce the pic alongside Max Goldfarb of Redefine Entertainment, and Dominic Ottersbach.
Once production on the Collaboration film has wrapped, the play will head to Broadway, with Kwei-Armah, Bettany and Pope once again returning. Previews will begin at MTC’s Samuel J. Friedman Theatre on November 29, with December 20 set as opening night.
Brühl is a Golden Globe, SAG, and BAFTA Award nominee who has previously been seen starring in films like The King’s Man, Rush, Inglourious Basterds, Captain America: Civil War, The Bourne Ultimatum and A Most Wanted Man, as well as the series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and The Alienist. Other upcoming projects for the actor include the sports drama 2 Win, from director Stefano Mordini, and the thriller Rich Flu, from director Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia, in which Rosamund Pike and Macaulay Culkin are also set to star.
Brühl is represented by WME and Tavistock Wood Management.
